Braxten Boyd is willing to put the work in now so that things down the road pay off in a big way.

The 26-year-old driver took the first three weeks of the year off from racing at The Meadowlands, yet, still finds himself firmly in fifth place in the standings at the New Jersey oval with 22 walks down victory lane.

A year ago, Boyd’s 71 wins at The Big M were good for fifth in the standings. Overall, he racked up 337 victories (to tie a career best) and earnings of $6.9 million (a career high) on the way to being selected as the 2025 Dan Patch Rising Star Award winner.

Boyd is experiencing what many drivers in his age group do: The grind.

But he’s OK with it.

“The New York Sire Stakes has been really good to me the last couple of years and I am planning on doing that a lot this year,” said Boyd. “Hopefully, I stumble into a horse that’s good enough on that circuit that could do some Grand Circuit racing. I’m open to doing anything. You just have to hope and pray you get the opportunity.”

Opportunity came knocking a year ago with the high-octane three-year-old pacer Madden Oaks.

“Getting to taste that sweet victory in the Meadowlands Pace, and even the second-place finish in the North America Cup, was something I’ll never, ever forget,” said Boyd. “To be in those races, what a blessing. Thank the Lord that we were able to win one of them.”

The back-to-back leading driver at Tioga Downs knew there were nay-sayers critical of him before the Meadowlands Pace and he was glad to silence them.

“There were some podcasts, and they said, ‘Braxten has the morning-line favourite and he’s got no shot,’” said Boyd. “And I thought, well, I guess we’ll have to see.”

At the age of 21 in 2021, Boyd won 245 races and has won at least that many every year since. He appreciates the opportunities at The Meadowlands that have come his way.

“The two biggest trainers that come to mind are Mark Silva and my [future] brother-in-law Tee Wine,” said Boyd. “Since I got out here five years ago, I don’t really drive for anybody that I originally came out here for, so it’s really funny how everything kind of changes. Mark, Tee and Amanda Fine have been very instrumental to my success.”

Boyd is chill when it comes to what lies ahead in the summer when names like Dunn, Gingras, McCarthy, Bartlett, Tetrick and Zeron start popping up on the entry sheet.

“We’re just kind of going to let it play out,” said Boyd. “I’m still getting some opportunities here and there. I just want to put my name out there in case they ever need me. The high-level trainers have a lot of power behind them and sometimes being fourth or fifth on their list is just fine.

“I’ve been blessed enough to drive some for Marcus Melander on the New York Sire Stakes circuit the last couple of years. I might be fifth or sixth or seventh on the totem pole, but I do everything I can to get lucky and get one of their horses that you can do well with in the future.”

Thus, even after winning six times at The Big M last weekend, Boyd will once again drive primarily at Tioga once the warm weather hits.

“If somebody’s looking for a driver at Tioga, it doesn’t hurt that people know that I’m there a lot,” said Boyd.

But he still dreams of making The Meadowlands his year-round home base.

“I hope for that every day. It will create more opportunities for all of us out here. We’ll be racing there more days and I would definitely move closer,” said Boyd.

“We all dream of living those guys' [The Meadowlands drivers'] lifestyles but you realize how blessed you are with some of the chances you do get. Driving in the Meadowlands Pace and North America Cup, those are some of the most fun moments in my life and, hopefully, we get to do it again. Still, sometimes it’s better to place yourself in a spot where you might get more work than getting the more powerful horses.”

For someone who will likely have thousands of drives over the next several decades, Boyd has an eye on the end of the road for both himself, and his fiancé, Brandy, who currently trains a few horses.

“[In five years], hopefully, I’m at The Meadowlands and Pocono and living closer to The Meadowlands. Hopefully, we have a casino there and race more days at The Meadowlands, too. And I can retire early.”

(Meadowlands Racetrack)