Life after the finish line: Geeze Wally thrives as a pony horse after racing
News feature by Tammy Knox, Horseshoe Indianapolis’ race marketing manager (photos of Geeze Wally courtesy Horseshoe Indy and Coady Media)
Editor’s note: Owner-trainer Chaz Rechy races regularly at Turfway Park in the winter. Geeze Wally ran three times at Turfway, including winning a $5,000 claiming race in 2016 at 33-1 odds.
Video feature by Horseshoe Indy marketing intern Darbie Cullipher
SHELBYVILLE, Ind. (Thursday, May 29, 2025) – Just like the show he’s named after, “Leave it To Beaver,” Geeze Wally is a classic. The now 14-year-old former Thoroughbred racehorse is a fixture at Horseshoe Indianapolis Racing & Casino and has found new life after racing. He currently serves as a pony horse year round and has ventured outside the grounds, fulfilling other roles along the way.
Geeze Wally was just a regular racehorse and never ran in stakes action or for high purse money during his career. The Florida bred gelding began racing at three at Oaklawn in Arkansas and Remington Park in Oklahoma before venturing to Indiana in 2015. Later that year he was given to Trainer Chaz Rechy and became part of her stable in 2016, winning his second start in claiming action as a five-year-old for his new connections. The son of With Distinction went on to win two more races before retiring in 2018 with a little more than $50,000 on his card.
“He’s just been a great horse, a horse nobody wanted,” said Rechy, who oversees a small stable of six racehorses at Horseshoe Indianapolis. “They gave him to me, and he still makes money now. He was a quiet laid back horse, and he has big knees, but they never seem to bother him. They said he was hard to deal with, but I never had any trouble with him. I used to gallop him in the mornings.”
Rechy resides in Shelbyville, Ind. with her two daughters, Alejandra and Jaci, who just graduated from Shelbyville High School. Wally has been part of both girls’ lives for the past decade and has given them many rides around the barn over the years. He has also become a lesson horse for friend, Mary Ann Kitzmiller, who frequently picks him up on lesson day for work at the farm.
“He does it all,” added Rechy. “Western, English, trails, jumps, pony horse, lesson horse, you name it, he does it. And he’s great around kids. Mary Ann (Kitzmiller) comes and gets him a lot to use at the farm she’s at or just take him to trail ride. He wasn’t getting the process of being a pony horse at first, but he caught on and he’s great now. He’s the type of horse that adapts, and he is always there for you.”
One thing Geeze Wally is not good at is being turned out at a farm. Rechy has tried to let him relax in a field, but he stood at the gate the entire time wanting to return to the track.
“I don’t know what I’ll do with him when he can’t work anymore but I’ll figure something out,” added Rechy. “He’s been too good of a horse to not keep him and find a place for him. He’ll always have a home with me.”
