As a young girl growing up in California and Florida, she helped her family in the barn while going to school, all the while learning everything she could about horses and harness racing. Today, at only 27 years old, Brandy Wine, daughter of trainers Tom and Jill Wine and sister of trainer Tee Wine, has stepped out of the shadow of her family’s Wine Stable to run her own stable with her partner in life and in the barn, driver Braxten Boyd, a rising star in the business. Together, this harness racing power couple is destined for a promising and successful future.
Opening day 2025
“Since I was 10 years old, I would have to get up, ride my bike to the barn, take care of horses and then go to school,” she remembered. “I would get paid from my parents to do it, and that would be my spending money. I’ve always had to work and I’ve always taken care of horses.”
The family moved from California to Florida when she was 11, and then made their way north to Pocono Downs at Mohegan Pennsylvania in the summers, and returned to Florida for the colder months.
Her heart was set on a career in harness racing, but she explored other options first. “I tried to go to college for a couple years,” she laughed. “But I would just be so busy with the horses, so I just never finished.”
It can be challenging for a woman trainer in a business that can still be known as dominated by men, and Brandy has witnessed some negativity towards females in the training role. “People can belittle women, and are kind of degrading,” she admitted. “But (overall), I think women definitely have more of a softer spot when it comes to caring for the horses, and we definitely put in more time.”
It was at Pompano Park that Brandy met Braxten Boyd, whose career has been scorching up the tracks, from Pocono to Tioga to the Meadowlands. Their partnership took off after Braxten moved north after Pompano closed.
He got his license in 2019 in Minnesota at Running Aces, and drove in races there, California, and then to the infamous Florida track.
“Pompano was kind of my biggest launching pad, really, because I was driving against Wally Hennessy and David Miller, and I got to learn a lot from them. I was the third leading driver behind them, so that was the beginning of getting a lot of work. After that, I went to Tioga, and then the rest is history!”
Braxten credits both veteran drivers for helping him so much in his career to date. “Oh, I can’t leave out Marcus Miller, too,” he added. “When I first moved out East, he was first class to me, to the maximum. Those three guys, I couldn’t thank enough.”
While Pocono is racing for the season, it will be their ‘home base’, and the duo is plenty excited about the prospects they have currently racing. “For sure our favorite horse that we have is May Baby. She was Trotter of the Year last year at Tioga.”
Which brings the preference question. Trotters or Pacers? “Trotters,” they both exclaimed. But I prefer the old geldings to anything,” Brandy said. “I just think the old geldings appreciate the love a lot more than a mare, but it also breaks my heart at the same time when we get an old gelding that’s been through a lot of barns in his life. I think they appreciate the love you give them a lot more.”
Claiming races are a huge part of racing, but Brandy is not fond of them. “I really don’t like it, but we do claim. We claimed probably the hottest claiming horse last April, and we haven’t put him back in. We held onto him. His name is Tam Major. We usually claim them and then we don’t get rid of them. We get attached to them”.
Looking ahead to the future of harness racing, both Braxten and Brandy agree more needs to be done to encourage fans to watch and to keep coming back. “A lot of us drivers have always thought that we need to try to find more ways to meet the people,” Braxten said. “Give them free vouchers to wager! Education is the toughest thing, to me, because not everybody knows what our sport is. When they pick up the program, they don’t know what all the numbers mean.”
And when Braxten jumps in the bike to head to the track with one of their horses, do they strategize first? “We don’t discuss it (the race) before at all,” Brandy confided. “Whatever happens on the track happens, and if it doesn’t work out, for whatever reason, when he comes off the track, you let it go. We don’t take it home with us. It’s our barn, but he also has his full-time job driving, so he can’t let driving my one horse affect the rest of his day, because that’s how he makes a living.”
Couples goals! Impressive teamwork. Hard work. A strong and talented horsewoman and an equally talented and motivated driver. They’ve got an eye toward more success for their barn and more drives in big races. Brandy Wine and Braxten Boyd, together, are definitely on the way to having it all!
Cover Photo Credit to Brandy Wine
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