Trenton, NJ — Braxten Boyd is in a New York state of mind as he prepares to begin defense of his Tioga Downs driving championship when the track opens Saturday (May 3).
Boyd, who won a New York Sire Stakes championship last season with 2-year-old male trotter Variegated and is hoping for more opportunities on the circuit this season, posted 114 victories at Tioga last year to win the driving title by 27 triumphs over Michael Merton.
His drives at Tioga this weekend will be his first in New York after spending the winter and early spring at The Meadowlands in New Jersey and Mohegan Pennsylvania’s Pocono Downs.
“Having some good horses to drive helps, but there is a certain level of comfort with Tioga,” Boyd said. “It’s a five-eighths-mile track and those tracks are where 80 percent of my starts are. But it’s almost like a little bit of home in the back of my mind.
“The first meet I ever really got going pretty well at Tioga was my first year I showed up there (in 2021). I was the second leading driver to Wally (Hennessey) and that just gives you a little comfort. You know the track, a lot of the trainers and horses. It just makes it a little easier.”
Boyd, a 25-year-old Michigan native, did more than just win a track title last year. He had career highs in wins (337) and earnings ($4.32 million) and won his first New York Sire Stakes championship by driving 55-1 longshot Variegated to victory at MGM Yonkers Raceway.
Underdogs were his specialty in stakes races as he also won an Indiana Sire Stakes title with 129-1 longshot Black Gold at Harrah’s Hoosier Park.
“Looking back to last year you’re very thankful for the opportunities you got,” Boyd said. “You need a good horse to be able to win those races or even be in those races. So, you just gotta be thankful for even getting the shot to drive them.”
Boyd takes pride in his track championship but is keeping his options open in the hopes of driving more often on the NYSS circuit.
“Of course I would love to defend it,” he said. “But If I get New York Sire Stakes horses I want to drive them. That could stop me trying to do that. Obviously, that’s a big goal but that isn’t the number one goal. I really want to win Tioga but if it costs me having a New York Sire Stakes horse I’m not going to worry about the title more than driving a good New York horse.”
And while he felt his stakes victory was “a little bigger deal,” it didn’t detract from the joy he felt from winning the Tioga title.
“Being a leading driver at a track is pretty cool,” he said. “When I won I could stand there in the winner’s circle with my dad (Brett), and I could just feel my grandfather (Ray) sitting in the picture too, from up above. That was a cool moment, because I could feel his love, and his teaching my dad everything and my dad passing it to me.
“I didn’t get any time with my grandpa because he passed away when I was 3. But I could tell that probably meant more to him upstairs than anything. That was really surreal.”
Boyd had a breakout year in 2021 when he won 245 races and $1.81 million in purses. He followed with 270 wins and nearly $4 million in earnings in 2022, gaining him the Rising Star Award from the Monticello-Goshen chapter of the U.S. Harness Writers Association.
Asked if he felt pressure to become a star after that, Braxten said, “It was more an honor. Personally, it’s just trying to make a living. Making my family proud is the number one thing. My dad’s my biggest fan of all time and so is my gramps upstairs too and a lot of people from my hometown are good friends of my dad, or fans. I just want to make a living and stay safe.”
Boyd is continuing to grind away this season, posting 69 wins at The Meadowlands and Mohegan Pennsylvania’s Pocono Downs ahead of Tioga’s opening.
Despite racing under The Meadowlands’ bright lights, Braxten said the smart move is to leave East Rutherford for Tioga, the Nichols, N.Y.-based track that is nearer to his Harvey’s Lake, Pa. home.
“It’s not that hard of a decision because I usually drive The Meadowlands every winter,” he said. “It’s a business and you gotta make your living. For my living it only makes sense to go to Tioga. It would be awesome to stay there and battle with the big boys but when you’re trying to battle with the big boys on a horse that’s not as good as theirs it’s really freaking hard.”
He will race mainly at Tioga and Pocono while keeping his eye out for New York Sire Stakes possibilities.
This is the first summer that Boyd will be driving as an engaged man, as he proposed to Brandy Wine the week before Christmas. The two met in Florida and hit it off. They own several horses together and Brandy’s brother, Tee, is one of Boyd’s main providers of drives.
“I’m very blessed, I get a lot of opportunities from a lot of different people,” he said. “Other than my fiancée’s brother, I don’t have anybody I particularly drive a lot of horses for. That’s how it’s been my whole career. I’m a little bit of a freelance guy, but if I’m a freelance guy where they can trust me enough to put me back down after we draw a bad spot, usually we can handle it.”
While Boyd has consistently gotten better at his craft, one thing that has changed is the advice he gets from his trainer-driver father, Brett.
“He gave up on that,” Braxten said with a laugh. “He used to give some but now he says, ‘You have more wins than I have starts,’ so he lets me handle that. It’s funny he can tell me that. It’s kind of cool.”
Almost as cool as the anticipation of another season at the track where he currently reigns supreme.
“Tioga is a good little summer place to go,” Boyd said. “Hopefully win a couple races and have a little fun, make a little money.”