TOBA May Member of the Month

Kirk Godby may head up a partnership called Don’t Tell My Wife Stables, but anyone with a horse like the stable’s Confidence Game  surely can’t keep quiet. On February 25, the son of Candy Ride   stamped himself as a bona fide Kentucky Derby (G1) contender by winning the Rebel Stakes (G2) at Oaklawn Park.

“We started this out to have fun back in 2010,” Godby said, “and the name didn’t come up because we were trying to be cute or hide anything. I was trying to formalize everything. My dad introduced me to this game probably  around 1980 and I fell in love with it.” Owner of a courier delivery company, Fort Worth, Texas-based Godby eventually enlisted others in the transportation logistics industry to join a fledgling stable.

“I was having calls with them, conference calls to say, ‘Hey, we got to come up with this. You got to get licensed,  got to have an LLC,” he shared. “And every time we finish this call, this friend of ours from Connecticut would say, ‘Geez, whatever you do, don’t tell my wife. She’s going to freaking  kill me.’ Yeah. And so that’s how the stable name started, and so we just did it for fun.”

Godby added, “Right now, I’ve got three active partnerships with a total of 70 partners.” He also became involved with Matt Bryan’s Big Chief Racing, which co-owned horses like 2016 Preakness Stakes (G1) winner Exaggerator  and grade 1 winner Decked Out . Trainer and bloodstock agent Keith Desormeaux bought Exaggerator, then began purchasing quality youngsters for Don’t Tell My Wife.

At the 2016 Keeneland September Yearling sale, Don’t Tell My Wife bought a son of Creative Cause   for $20,000. Named My Boy Jack , he raced for Don’t Tell My Wife, Monomoy  Stables, LLC, and West Point Thoroughbreds. A stakes winner at two on the turf, My Boy Jack took the Southwest Stakes (G3) and Stonestreet Lexington  Stakes (G3), then finished fifth in the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (G1). Of Derby Day, Godby recalled, “We had sixty-something people that came and it was kind of a little bit of a blur. We had a great time. He had a bad trip and he finished fifth. But it was just a wonderful experience.” In 2022, Don’t Tell My Wife ran Bourbonette Stakes victress Candy Raid  in the Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1), where she ran ninth.

At the 2021 Keeneland September sale, Desormeaux purchased Confidence Game (by Candy Ride out of a half-sister to Zenyatta) for $25,000.  Godby said, “The page speaks for itself, but the hidden thing behind it is, Zenyatta was broke at Mayberry farm in Ocala. And that’s where all of our horses are broke. April [Mayberry]’s a good friend, I’ve known her for a long time. And then there’s another horse on that page by the name of Where’s Bailey.”

Another half-sister to Zenyatta, Where’s Bailey (by Aljabr) won the 2005 Remington Park Oaks. “That horse was picked out by Keith as well, and that’s named after Keith’s son,” Godby said. And Keith’s son was a little-bitty tot when I first met Keith. And I said, ‘Man, there’s just too much here.’ And I called him and said, ‘Is that horse taken?’ And he goes, ‘No.’ And I said, ‘Well, he is now.’ I said,

‘There’s too much meaning to this.’ And so it is just kind of crazy how all this happened, really.”

Confidence Game has blossomed this year. “He was immature as a two-year-old and he needed to grow mentally,” Godby said. “Physically, Keith knew he had the tools.” He added, “But I think it’s really more the mental side. He’s an easygoing  guy, but very confident  in the aspect of when he gets out there and he likes to compete.”  Before the Rebel, the colt ran third in his 2023 debut, the January 21 Lecomte Stakes (G3) at Fair Grounds.

The Rebel marked a milestone for Godby. “I’ve been a part of a horse that just won a grade one, but as a stable, that’s our first grade two win. And to do it with 30 partners at the race, partners and friends, and to be there, that’s my second time I’ve seen a horse win,” he enthused.