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Johnny’s Take On The Bulldog

Harold Howe • Aug 22, 2022

When Johnny Mallia was in grade eight elementary schoo, he already knew his life’s work would be with race horses. What he did not know is that it would be nearly 50 years before he hit the motherlode as assistant trainer/caretaker of the fastest horse in the history of harness racing.


Bulldog Hanover is the signature horse in Mallia’s career which has saw a goodly number of quality horses come his way but nothing quite like The Bulldog.


He has received virtually no attention for his work with the horse which he says does not bother him but he would not be human if it did not wrankle him a bit. Johnny relates this one day last week while The Bulldog was enjoying his lunch.


“I just finished high school to please my parents. All I wanted to do was be with the horses. My father was a part-time hobby trainer at Western Fair Raceway in London. That set me up for my first real job with Terry Kerr at Flamboro Downs. That was when Terry had Dapper Dillon and Beau Jim who were good horses for the time. I learned a lot with Terry in my four years there”.


His next step came with Trevor Ritchie at Windsor Raceway when he operated a stable and had designs on moving to the Ontario Jockey Club.


“Trevor gets credit for only his driving but he was a great trainer and I mean great. I got the chance to own a few with him. Again, a lot was learned and I distinctly remember making $200 a week - big money” he recalls.


“The plan then was to take a few to Florida for racing at Pompano. Jack Darling was going which is where I first got to know Jack. But something happened and Trevor could not get there so he said just stay there for the winter which I did and liked it. That led me to come back and open my own stable at Mohawk. I began claiming a few with a small barn that I could pretty much do myself. The most I ever had was eight but as happens, things went bad”.


This was right about the time Classy Lane Stables Training Centre opened its doors in 2003. He then came on board with the Mark Harder stable.


“I stayed a year but didn’t like the atmosphere of a big barn. I switched over to Mike Vanderkamp who was hooked up with Noel Daley but it was an identical scenario. Then Jack Darling moved in after selling his farm near Windsor. I’d known him quite a while by then and liked Jack so I came on board there in 2008 and been here ever since”.


Mallia loves the modest size of the operation which sent out a steady stream of notables including Big McDeal, Carnivore, Write Me A Song and Beaumond Hanover to name a few. But then things changed with the arrival of Bulldog Hanover.


This blog has chronicled at length the path that led Darling to buy Bulldog Hanover. His strategy for several years has been to send his yearling purchases to a group of Western Ontario Mennonite trainers to break them in before returning to the stable for development. Bulldog followed that path.


“I never saw the horse until then. I remember thinking he was a little plain - not a great big, powerful horse like Jack tends to go for. I’d say medium size and immature with no instant bang in looking at him. Even now when he is relaxed he just doesn’t wow you but when he puffs up he’s all horse”, says Johnny.


Darling also likes to winter vacation for two months in the United States. Johnny is left behind to manage things so Bulldog was among his pupils.


“It took him a little while to get gaited and he’d make the odd break which is hard to believe the way he goes now. When Jack would call to check in I talked more about the others than him for a while”.


It is never mentioned but Bulldog Hanover actually began his career in a Grassroots event at Woodbine Mohawk Park and got beaten but it was a case of just laying the foundation for the future. He raced just six times but put a huge exclamation mark on his final appearance when he won the OSS Super Final by 9 lengths in 1:50.2. That served notice he was one to watch closely for 2021.  


“Jack could not have laid out a better plan for him. He was not raced out and everything looked just about perfect until September when the roof fell in”.


September 11, 2021 to be exact and the occasion was the $1 million North America Cup. It was his race to lose in the minds of everyone and he did. A 28 second final quarter was nowhere good enough and he faded to fourth after having the lead at the head of the lane.


“To this day we do not know what happened. He was so good the week before in the elim. Jody (Jamieson) gave a perfect drive but I knew when another horse got to his wheel he was in trouble. We had him fully checked out after the race and nothing showed. Maybe the elim stretched him but I don’t really think so. Still a mystery”.


Two more losses followed before the team headed to Indiana. Four starts, four wins and $180,000 in the till marked the end of the season. It was a $682,000 season plus an interest in the horse being sold to Brad Grant but somehow it was disappointing.


“I went to Indiana with him and this was during all the Covid drama and the border crossing. Jack was going to Harrisburg shopping and it worked out but we were and are still wondering about the Cup race”.


Bulldog got two months off before the decision was made to breed a collection of mares (80
) in the off season with Seelster Farms. The double duty agreed with him.


“Jack went south again and one day he called and I said Jack, this horse is three seconds better than when we stopped with him. I said he feels that good. He had become a powerhouse”.


A gameplan was worked out starting with the Juravinski Cup (Confederation Cup) at Flamboro Downs. That proved be a mistake and the half-mile track proved his undoing.


But the Bulldog rebounded winning the Graduate Series leg and a week later the $65,000 Free For All.


“No one talks about that FFA win. Allywag Hanover was all the talk but the Bulldog ate him up along with a very, very good field of older horses. That was a terrific effort over Mohawk to send him to the Meadowlands on’.


But Johnny did not go. Arrangements were made to send him to Noel Daley’s barn and hopefully convince Dexter Dunn to take the drive which he did at the expense of Rockyroad Hanover.


“I cannot tell you how much I hated the idea that Jack did not send me with Bulldog. I knew he was the best horse in the world and just hated to let him out of my sight.  But that was the plan and it all worked out. Despite a couple issues he overcame everything”.


Those issues included a Hopple hanger letting go in the 1:46.1 mile and then losing a shoe in the 1:45.4 world record.


“I could see the shoe missing when he came into the winner’s circle. That and the hanger are just things that happen. As I said he is just one that seems to overcome everything. I probably was the least surprised of anyone by the miles he went. That’s why I wanted the experience of being there with the best horse in the world”.


When Bulldog Hanover returned to the Darling barn the day after the WR Haughton Memorial Johnny was taken back at the toll those races had taken.


“He was noticeably down in weight but he had every right to be. There were no ribs showing but it was a very hard period and I can only imagine what the other horses he raced against looked like. No reflection on Noel or his help. I’m just saying people maybe do not realize what happens at that level”.


That insight reminded me of the 1993 NHL season when the Toronto Maple Leafs made a playoff run with Doug Gilmour leading the way.  Over the course of the playoffs Gilmour who never had a robust physique, lost 12 pounds which he could not regain until the season was over. The physical toll was not unlike what Bulldog endured when put to the test.


Darling’s plan astutely called for the team to miss the Sam McKee Memorial on Hamlbetonian Day. It would have been just too much to ask. Instead Bulldog got a three week pass before heading back to Indiana for the Dan Patch.


“He was absolutely perfect for that race. I got to go with him and it was just a wonderful experience. The track and the crowd was unbelievable. They could not get enough of him. And the funny thing is he showed he loves women. They were gushing, hugging and kissing him and he just ate it all up”.


It proved a short night. The race did not go off until a ridiculous 11:15. Bulldog and Johnny were on the van leaving Hoosier at 6:00 am the following morning and home by 4:00.


“He likes his stall and his paddock at home but he is pretty accepting of everything. When he leaves to go to stud it will be a very empty place here. There are enormous shoes to fill which likely no one ever will”.


Bulldog Hanover did not make Johnny Mallia the best caretaker in the game. Most who know him will say he’s been a top man for a long time but like many just hidden in the shadows.


There are still races to be contested by Bulldog Hanover starting with the Canadian Pacing Derby eliminations this weekend. It will be two weeks since his last test and one cannot imagine relishing the task of taking on The Bulldog in his own backyard.


Johnny makes his home in nearby Waterdown, Ontario. He describes himself as the most eligible bachelor in the game. No way to confirm that one but he will get credit for his role in the saga of Bulldog Hanover. A job very well done indeed.

Enter Matt Bax

By Harold Howe • 07 Nov, 2022
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.

Dave And The Healing Horse

By Harold Howe • 12 Oct, 2022
It’s difficult to imagine the feeling one would feel when they are told they have cancer. It is even more unimaginable to comprehend living with the dreaded disease for nearly 20 years. But that has been the life of Dave Hudson. Dave is many things, but one that is near and dear to his heart is that of being a co-owner of Duly Resolved who will head postward Saturday night in the $225,000 Ontario Sires Stake Super Final for three-year-old trotting colts at Woodbine Mohawk Park. Hudson who makes his home in Dallas, Texas, is a native of St. Thomas, Ontario. He’s been involved in horse ownership for many years after his father first took him to the races as a boy. Today, he has horses with Matt/John Bax and Trevor Henry. He is a former National Hockey League centre. He played 409 games with the New York Islanders, Kansas City /Scouts and Colorado Rockies from 1969 to 1978. A Stanley Cup is not in his resume but a lifetime of memories from those 10 years is and today at age 72 he still maintains many hockey connections and friends from that era. ColorMark is a printing firm he and partners started 29 years ago. From the startup stage with 6 employees it is now remains a privately owned company with just under 100 employees. It specializes in high end printing, owns its expansive building and does $20 million in business annually. In 2003 Hudson was diagnosed with cancer, specifically multiple myeloma. “It was reasonably manageable up until two and a half years ago. It has been quite a challenge since but on July 1 I underwent a stem cell transplant. I was hospitalized for 16 days but I’m expecting to get word next week that I am cancer free. If so, I’ve been told I should be good for at least five years”. Hudson is quick to admit that his involvement with Duly Resolved played a significant role in dealing with his health problems. “I guess I’ve had horses with the Baxs for 10 years. Duly was purchased in the fall of 2020 and I took a piece of the colt. He was just a $30,000 colt but as early as January the Baxs both told me that he might be something special. They were right on the money. I cannot tell you how much I looked forward to seeing him race. Like me, maybe he is a bit of an overachiever”. Duly dominated the early Ontario Sires Stakes last year but the most exciting time came in the $1 million Mohawk Million. He was a charging second to Venerable, arguably one of the best two year old trotting filly’s ever to look through a bridle for a 90 day period. The gelding finished the year with $660,000 but it was the pride of involvement that registered with Hudson. The youngster faded somewhat in the remaining races but Hudson never wavered. “He won his first Gold this year but then ran into health problems which turned out to be allergies and a bit of stomach ailment which kept him from eating like he should. But I never lost faith he would come around. It appears the Baxs found the keys because in his last Gold event at Western Fair he showed he was back. It was a terrific effort and we have big hopes for the Super Final Saturday night at Mohawk. He looks to be right back on his game”. And if things go well there will be a start in the Breeders Crown at Mohawk as well. “Through my illness I’ve had so much support from people even dating back to my days in college. Then there is my family and of course Duly. I cannot say enough about the horse”. It’s easy to get emotional hearing Hudson’s story. And it is so refreshing to hear someone so devoted to a horse and not because of the earning power. There is a good chance Duly will be retained to race in 2023. Not many people noticed, but Hudson was in attendance at the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale. He came up as a partner on two yearlings including the $120,000 (US) Resolve colt purchased from Cool Creek Farm. “You should not forget about our two-year-old trotter Southwind Coors (Walner) who I am a partner on. He is still a maiden but look at his lines. We have big hopes for him and will start him in the Breeders Crown. He could be the big sleeper”. It is an exciting time for Hudson. His health appears the best it has been in years, he’s connected to two quality horses and he’s in the process of adding reinforcements from the yearling sales. People tend not to think of harness horses as being therapeutic animals. Ask Dave Hudson and he will tell you they are dead wrong.

Brad Has His Say…

By Harold Howe • 02 Oct, 2022
Boredom can be a terrible thing for some people. Take Brad Grant in mid-June 2021. Grant owns a number of trucking companies including John Grant Haulage. Covid was still prevalent and he was working from his Milton, Ontario home. He then had this notion to call trainer Jack Darling for a casual chat but it is my experience there are no such things as casual chats. Grant and Darling have some history over the years. The call was not something out of the blue. It started off innocently but by the time the call concluded the groundwork was laid for Grant to purchase a 50 percent interest in Bulldog Hanover. “I had watched the horse race as a two-year-old. We just had a nice chat that night and I made the casual comment that if he ever wanted to sell part of the horse I’d like to talk with him. He had not thought of selling before that and it all took about five minutes”, recalls Grant. Darling later told this writer that Grant was one of the very few if not the only person he would have entertained as a partner. Jack is pretty much a solo act has said he likes to think of himself as a businessman who races horses. Here was an opportunity to take a very nice chunk of change off the table, eliminate some of the risk, still retain a half share and be able to continue to train and race the horse. Just an intelligent piece of business. It also is quite likely the best piece of business that Grant has ever done with horses. He is a businessman too but it is the horses that give him his greatest satisfaction. “Listen, my role in Bulldog is just that of cheerleader. I’m flattered that Jack let me in. While we talk regularly, the decisions regarding the racing of the horse are all his.” By mid-September, Grant’s decision looked to be positively brilliant as Bulldog Hanover went into the $1 million North America Cup as the heavy favourite. But we all know what the result of that was. “That one hurt. Along with a lot of other people I thought he was a winner going in. That race is a bit sentimental for me because my Dad won it with Bettors Delight all those years ago. I don’t know what happened and Jack does not know what happened to this day. Nothing wrong was found with the horse’s health so all I can say is that it was just not meant to be. But I am still not convinced the best horse won that race or the remaining races Bulldog lost. I ended the year believing he was the better horse”. At this point Grant again expresses his admiration for Darling. “Bulldog won his last four starts at three so was put away in a great frame of mind. That was part of what has happened this season. Jack is a total professional who cares about the horse first. Not once has there been any second guessing on my part. It has all been the most wonderful experience”. But even then there was a hiccup in May’s Juravinski Cup at Flamboro Downs. That half-mile track proved his undoing but then the onslaught began. Last night’s victory in the Dayton Derby makes it four (count that FOUR) months since The Bulldog tasted defeat - an 11 race undefeated string that has earned the partners $1.2 million. “Most people talk about the four wins at the Meadowlands in 22 days but they are missing the fact that in his last start at Mohawk before shipping to New Jersey, he made a big statement. Then getting Dexter Dunn to drive was a big step and a huge decision on his part. Walking away from Rockyroad Hanover and Tony Alagna was an enormous decision but Dexter comes across to me as being very analytical. And when he drives he reminds me of Wayne Gretzky who seemed to know where the puck was going next rather than where it is in the moment”. Interestingly, of all the races it was the Hoosier Park Pacing Derby win that Grant talked the most about. “He just crushed the field and the way he did it left the crowd in awe that night. Overpowering which says a lot because in so many of the starts he just drove away from the field. Sooner or later one has to think he will get beaten but I believe he is the type that if that happens he will come back the next start and be right back on his game”. Grant gives full credit to Darling for coming up with the idea to breed the horse this past spring. “He’d been thinking about it and asked what I thought. Why not I said so we’ll be reaping the reward of that. He got 80 mares which I thought was pretty good but there will be a lot more next season. And there will be some very, very good mares.” Grant is quite proud of the fact that the horse has captured the attention of people particularly in the United States. “I’ve been very fortunate to have been involved with Atlanta and Romona Hill but this is much bigger. He has star power and people want to see him. He is a generational horse”. So the next step is The Red Mile and the Allerage next Sunday. If the team is lucky enough to hit a perfect October day on Kentucky they may take a run at trying to improve on his 1:45.4 record but winning the race gets the greater priority. “I’m a great believer that records are made to be broken. The weather there may not be the greatest so that would negate any shot but it would be great just to see how fast he could go. I’d love to see him break it and just have to pray to the man upstairs for good things to happen”. Bulldog Hanover has absolutely nothing left to prove in terms of his speed, ability to win against all comers and overall greatness. However, Brad Grant has to prove he can make another casual telephone call pay off.
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