LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Spring is Sophia Goff’s busy season, but she likes to take her time, making sure every stitch is in place when the jockeys suit up. 

As head seamstress at Becker & Durski Turf Goods outside Churchill Downs, she has made hundreds of silks over the years and seen the fabric change from satin to lycra.

“I love to sew,” said Goff. “You have to love what you do. I can’t be around the horses. I’m scared of them, so this is the closest I am to the horse,” she said with a smile. 

Goff watches the races at home on TV, and that’s how she fi nds out where the pieces she worked on end up, she said. 

“We make them for the owner and trainer, so I don’t know what horse is going to or what jockey is going to use them, so it’s kind of a surprise, really when you see it on TV,” said Goff. 

That’s what happened 50 years ago, said Goff, with a blue and white pattern she spotted on Secretariat’s jockey Ron Turcotte.

“I was watching it on TV and they were parading, you know getting ready for the race and then I noticed, ‘I made that! I made those colors,’ you know and it was really exciting watching that horse win,” said Goff. 

General Manager Lee Wagner, whose family owns Wagner’s restaurant next door and bought Becker & Durski Turf Goods in the 1960s, said the shop has sewn dozens of Derby winners’ silks over the years.

“It’s really exhilarating when we get to see one of the horses that we’ve made silks for win a big race and these are people that we see every day,” Wagner said. “Sophie means so much. She’s helped us immensely with bringing in new people and help training them and teaching them how to sew as well as getting so many silks done so quick. She’s the best in the business.”

Goff estimated that she’ll work on about 50 silks this season, though none that she knows of are for the Derby jockeys.

The focus for each piece is the same: “Get it done and get it done good, you know. Make them proud of it,” said Goff.