Harness: Youth was served in Meadowlands Pace

Most everyone remembers their teenage years and early twenties – a time when everything is coming together and you’re figuring out where you want to be and what you want to do. Yet, when you’ve grown up in the harness racing industry and you get bit by “the bug”, your plan is pretty much mapped out for you with every career in harness racing revolving around the same thing: the horses.

For Cameron Capone, Morgan Paquet and Braxten Boyd – the kids of generations of harness horsemen – their path was destined for harness racing and so, everything led them up to the eve of Saturday, July 12 in the winner’s circle at Meadowlands Racetrack in one of the most prestigious races, the Meadowlands Pace.

Trainer Cameron Capone’s story in harness racing dates back to birth as he stems from a generational family in the business. On June 14, Capone secured a second-place finish by a nose in the prestigious North America Cup in Canada. Six days later, he turned 26 and three weeks after that, he was raising the Meadowlands Pace trophy above his head in celebration.

“I was involved in horses since the day I was born as my grandfather and father both trained. I was in a jog cart as early as 2 years old on my old man’s lap and when I was about six or seven, Steve Elliott took me in the bike with him. I smiled the whole time and came back with a mouth full of dirt. I was in the race bike when I was 10 and always knew I loved it and was most likely going to do it for a living,” Cameron said. “I was working alongside my father for my whole life, learning from him. I came home from school and claimed a horse with my dad and the rest was history from there.”

Cameron got his first win in May 2022 at Freehold Raceway with Madame Leza A. Since 2022, he has amassed $1.5 million in career training earnings and is closing in on 100 training wins with his career best year to date, already doubling his stats from 2024 this year.

Madden Oaks, a 3-year-old son of Huntsville and the Bettor’s Delight mare Hard Eight, was a $50,000 purchase out of the Harrisburg Sale as a yearling for owners Samir Tawil, Paul Kautz, Alexander Henn and Nathan Fullmer.

“We bought Madden Oaks out of Harrisburg, got the partners to all buy a piece. We had a price range and we stayed under it. In the long run we could have bought the filly we wanted, too, who turned out to be The Last Martini,” Cameron recalled. “How we got the horse was crazy though. We liked Huntsvilles because the two we bought did good, so we decided to look at Harrisburg and watch all the Huntsvilles, pick our favorites, and keep within the budget.

“My mom had a high school reunion so my parents ended up going a few days before because it was in Harrisburg and they took a ride over to look at the few. My dad looked at Madden first and he was mesmerized and told me we have to buy this horse, I’m just going to focus on him. Then he went back to the sale and bought him a few days later. It really is such a cool story and even crazier that we only bought one baby and he turned out to be this.”

The team behind Madden Oaks and Madden himself really put themselves on the map with the performance out of post 10 at the C$1 million North America Cup, getting nosed out at the wire by favored Louprint.

“I never thought losing could feel so good. We were so happy for ourselves plus for the horse to finally get some respect that he deserves because he does everything so effortlessly. Then to come back in the Pace and win it, wow, what a moment. It was so surreal and so awesome to do it at the track I would have to call home turf,” said Capone, who had to deal with some anxious moments after the Pace concluded. “After the race we were waiting to put in an objection and before we could get on the phone, they already had him flashing and Todd [McCarthy] came directly back to the paddock. I figured we were right with all those gut feelings and then it took a very, very long time, so I went back to the stall to check on him. When I did, they announced that we won and it was just a very, very cool feeling.”

Morgan Paquet, at the young age of 18, graduated high school just two weeks prior to post time. She is also a generational horseman with both of her parents and her grandparents as horsemen in the business.

“Growing up, I really wasn’t interested in the racehorses since I was very determined to be successful with the riding horses,” Morgan said. “My grandparents, mom, and dad all have their own stables, so every once in a while I was helping out around the barn and learning new things while still keeping my focus on riding. After moving up to New York, my mom helped get me started on picking up catch paddocks, which led to me falling in love with the thrill of the sport.

“I didn’t always have plans on becoming a caretaker,” Morgan continued. “I kind of just wanted to go the easy route and do catch paddocks. After working a little bit in the Harmon Stable during the 2023 meet at Tioga, I decided I wanted to put a little more focus into the racehorses. I started going on the road to experience different tracks and paddock for different people to see all the ways of doing things.”

Morgan works for Cameron Capone at Tioga Downs and her time is split between the barn and being on the road traveling with horses to stakes races in addition to Madden Oaks’ Grand Circuit adventure.

“I usually take care of eight horses, but that number goes up or down every week depending on which horses are getting turned out or if there are new ones coming in. I try to go on the road as much as possible since we have a great team to hold down the barn when Cameron and/or I are away at another track, but I usually stay behind,” said Morgan. “I never realized the stress of sending your horse off to another track to race and having to trust someone else to do the right thing by your horse until I experienced it for myself after becoming a full-time groom.”

The esteemed Madden Oaks is one of those many horses in Morgan’s care and like her other horses, she knows him and his quirks very well.

“Madden is a very special horse. He is always relaxed, which I think is something that makes him so good. He is never really fired up until he goes to the gate, after that, it’s game on,” said Morgan. “There really isn’t much Madden doesn’t like except being left alone. Whenever you leave him, all he does is paw and make as much noise as possible. He is really a pleasure to be around and take care of overall.”

While the majority of the harness racing population fears the future of the sport, Madden Oaks’ young team demonstrates the strength and potential it has. With an 18-year-old caretaker by his side, 26-year-old trainer calling the shots and 25-year-old driver holding the lines, his own young career has been guided to success thus far by the next generation of horsemen.

“I think us being young is great for the sport. From what I’ve seen so far on social media, it really excites people to see fresh faces doing so well and opening new doors for everyone on Madden’s team,” Morgan said. “Working with Braxten is refreshing because he is always willing to help and talk about things with all of the horses so we can keep them performing well and make changes as needed. Cameron is also different from any trainer I’ve been around. Instead of telling us to do something, he tries to explain why or ask opinions on his ideas.”

Braxten Boyd rounds out the trio of young guns backing Madden Oaks as the 25-year-old reinsman holds the lines and makes the calls once the horse steps on the track. Braxten is from Michigan with a lifetime in the industry as well.

“My dad has always bred, trained, and raced horses and so growing up, pretty much my entire life, I knew what I was going to do. I knew I was going to be in the business in some sort of capacity, whether it was training or driving or whatever it was – I wasn’t really certain when I was young. I always wanted to be a driver, but you never really know,” Boyd said.

Boyd has proven himself as a rising star in the industry thus far. Before making headlines with Madden Oaks, he won his first driving title at Tioga Downs last year and won the Monticello-Goshen USHWA Rising Star Award in 2022 in addition to winning Sires Stakes finals in both New York and Indiana. After a star-studded performance in Ontario on June 14, Boyd was looking forward to the race at The Meadowlands on July 12, but he never expected to have to deal with so much stretch confusion.

“During the inquiry, you know, all I could think is they have to take him down,” said Boyd.

Regardless of the way it happened, Madden Oaks added another win to his seasonal record of now 3-3-2 in eight starts with $509,067 banked, and Braxten, Cameron, and Morgan notched their first Grand Circuit victory.

“It’s kind of crazy being able to drive a horse that doesn’t really get tired. You know, that’s not usually how it works. And he’s not the easiest horse in the world to drive, but week after week he’s getting better and he’s so intelligent, the horse that is just starting to figure things out. He’s still a lightly raced horse,” said Boyd.

Madden Oaks looks ahead to an adventure on his Grand Circuit path with sights set on the Cane Pace and Breeders Crown.

In addition to being on the road for a lot of races at other tracks including stakes and the Grand Circuit with Madden Oaks, Boyd has a stable of four with his fiancée, Brandy.

“Luckily, we got somebody who’s been helping us, so I don’t have to go every day, but I try to at least stay on top of it to help her, and Brandy owns three of the four. So, I’m trying to help her the most I can. But lately I haven’t been too good at that because I’ve been so busy. But most of the winters and when I am not as busy, I always tend to show up and try to make sure that we have all the ducks in a row and put the horses on the track. You know, she handles everything in the barn very well,” said Boyd.

Cameron Capone, Morgan Paquet and Braxten Boyd share in a learned lifetime of experience through generations of horsemen in each of their families and now they are taking the harness racing world by storm by mapping out their success on the big stage with Madden Oaks.