Marya Montoya has been at Parx her entire life and is following in the footsteps of her father, the late Dennis “Goose” Heimer. Marya shared her father’s love of the sport and learned what it takes to be a trainer by helping with walking, grooming, and galloping from an early age. Marya then secured her own trainer’s license in 1996.

Marya’s career started out with two yearlings purchased for $1000, they both won which got her on a streak that would bring her some owners. Never looking back, Montoya has trained several great horses, including the stakes-winning Ever Rider who won the Temperance Hill Invitational Stakes at Belmont Park and was the Fielder Stakes winner at Parx in 2018.

Marya likes training babies because she can train them her way and not have to deal with the baggage that comes with some of the older horses. Mac was one of those babies.

Marya bought Mac at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic-Two-Year-Olds-in-Training Sale in 2020. Mac was purchased during the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the toughest times in history for trainers at the track. Parx was one of the first tracks to shut down and three weeks later there was no resumption to racing in insight.

A typical day rate at Parx is $75, which, trainers say, is just enough to cover the expenses of caring for and training a horse. Their money is made from the share of the purse they receive when a horse races. With that revenue stream no longer available, trainers had to take steps to keep their businesses going. Unfortunately, Marya was one of those trainers.  

Mac’s lackluster performance at the track is what brought him my way. I will admit, I knew nothing about Marya Montoya when I purchased Mac. What I know now is her interest in Mac and another horse I got for a client has not waivered. She and I communicate frequently on how both horses are making their way off the track and she enjoys getting updates and checking in on them. Mac was so fortunate to have landed with Marya for his days as a racehorse. I am aware that Marya had Mac’s best interest in mind by taking him out of the claiming pipeline and I am greatly looking forward to keeping in touch with Marya so she can enjoy Mac’s performance career right along with me. Marya is very happy to have one of her babies competing in the Thoroughbred Make Over in 2022.