Drexler's long-awaited Florida trip paying off big
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Marty Drexler is living the dream. The 51-year-old native of Slovakia is running horses at Gulfstream Park for the first time – and doing pretty good at it, too – while fulfilling an ambition that began in his teens.
“I remember coming down here and watching Cigar when I was a groom and still mostly a fan,” Drexler said between races on a recent weekday at Gulfstream. “It was a place I’d wanted to go for a long, long time.”
Drexler grew up in far western Canada, where his interest in racing was sparked by his father, a semi-retired plastic surgeon, owning a few horses. His entry into racing came as a young parimutuel clerk at Assiniboia Downs prior to “getting hooked up with the horse people,” as he phrased it.
Drexler was off and running. He began training in 2002 at Assiniboia and now has won more than 500 races, most of them after moving to Woodbine in suburban Toronto after a few years. He decided last fall that now was as good a time as any to try wintering in South Florida, where he entered this week at Gulfstream with 20 of his first 31 starters finishing third or better, including six winners. He is based an hour or so north of here at the Palm Meadows training center.
“We had all these delays at Woodbine this year with COVID and everything,” he said, “so we had a lot of horses that didn’t get enough starts in. I figured this would be the year to try it – and it’s been great. I love it.”
Among Drexler’s top clients is Bruno Schickedanz, the Ontario homebuilder who owns hundreds of horses as a longtime leading owner in Canada and steadfast participant in U.S. racing. All six of the Drexler winners have been in claiming races ranging from $6,250 to $35,000, with four of them being claimed away from him.
Drexler intends to maintain a stable of about 25 horses before heading back home a couple of weeks ahead of the eight-month Woodbine meet, which begins April 16.
“It’s been a pleasant surprise,” Drexler said. “I didn’t come here thinking, ‘I’m going to kick their ass,’ but I have stayed aggressive trying to claim a few, lose a few, and win some races in between. Commuting back and forth from here and Palm Meadows as much as I have can be a little rough, but I’m used to it by now and overall it’s been nice. I’m really happy to finally be here.”