Matt Bax is the new trainer of record for the Bax Stable.
That announcement came late Friday. The 32-year-old horseman will take over the spotlight from his father John after some 40 years of running a public stable. It comes in the wake of the Campbellville, Ontario operation posting stable of winnings of $1,936,494, its highest since 2002.
There are plenty of story lines related to the Bax stable season but one that never fails to amaze this writer is the dismissal of a stable’s average earnings per starter. If that is not important to the bottom line…well, what is. The barn averaged $9,091 per appearance from 213 starts. Now the banker for the Bax team is only interested in the figure in the bottom right hand corner of the ledger. It better be in black ink and the larger the better but what average earnings per starter measures is consistency. That is the ultimate goal in every single sport known to man.
The Bax Stable has been for a number of years now a true partnership between the father and son. Only this year has Matt received any acknowledgement in the game.
Last winter, John made his annual sojourn for the winter months to Palema Trotting in Vero Beach Florida. He took just six yearling fillies. Matt was left with the balance which included four two-year-olds headed by $631,000 winner Duly Resolved and 15 yearlings for a total of 19 head. The Campbellville farm operation was all his until April as his father basked in the sunshine. Be very clear…John blew no snow last winter.
The total result was remarkable with 20 of the 21 yearlings in total qualifying. The one went to the qualifiers but did not succeed and was turned out. Remember, these are all trotters.
In addition to having the responsibility of bring 2021 champ Duly Resolved (198,000) back to the races, Matt orchestrated the development of Snowpiercer ($178,000), Oh Look Magic ($149,000), Southwind Coors ($88,000), Quite Fast ($73,000) and Deadline Hall ($70,000). This was in addition to keeping things ticking over at the farm as well.
While Matt has no intention to become a top driver (he lacks the attitude), he did show he most definitely has a way with problematic trotters. Oh Look Magic is a handful to put it charitably. He gets worked up prior to the start of the race and will not relax until he gets to the front so it makes him one dimensional. Bax showed he knows the colt though when he guided him to a win in a $95,000 elimination of the William Wellwood and then promptly took himself off the horse for the $665,000 final in favour of James MacDonald. Few if any would make such a decision and speaks volumes to his focus of doing what is best for the horse. Regrettably, that move was ill-fated after a very odd race and he finished out of the money but the intent was there.
Another good example of his mentoring ability is Watch A Pro, a Grassroots player that suffers from anxiety problems behind the gate. The addition of trotting hopples and a patient approach turned him into a useful performer. Regrettably, he blew apart at the start of the $60,000 Grassroots final but eight months could get him over that issue.
So now the table has been reset or almost. Heading into the Harrisburg auction the stable is constructed quite differently. No less than 15 of the juveniles are being carried over into 2023. So far there are 16 yearlings as compared with 21 last year. The plan is for Righteous Resolve to head for Florida along with five yearlings leaving Matt with the 15 returnees and at least 10 yearlings.
There is also Duly Resolved. In many ways it was a disappointing year for that horse who battled allergies and stomach issues all season. $198,000 is nothing to sneeze at but more was hoped for. The decision was made the retain the gelding and try a little different approach for next season.
The actual racing of horses for Team Bax ended with the Breeders Crown but that does not mean there is any downtime. Even before that, the next yearling crop was in the harness.
So the new public face of the Bax Stable is Matt and John regresses somewhat not unlike what Mark Steacy has done with Shawn Steacy. That barn won $2.7 million in 2022.
At 32 years of age, Matt has more or less taken the traditional route of a proper apprenticeship in learning about training horses and the business of operating a stable. There were no short cuts taken as so many do. Everything says he is totally ready for this move. It’s more or less the way things should be done in becoming a professional horse trainer.