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Gavin
Bixler works on Brush The Sand before taking the 11 year old mare
to the track for her
daily workout at the Darke County Fairgrounds
Wednesday. CNO photos by George Starks
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Bixler gaining
momentum in harness racing
By George Starks
GREENVILLE- Franklin Monroe graduate Gavin Bixler, 29, is no stranger
to the horse scene at the Darke County fairgrounds.
Since 1990, Bixler has been a big fan of harness horse racing and in
2008, decided he wanted to make a career out of training the horses.
“This has been my lifetime dream job and I’ve wanted to do this since I
was a kid,” stated Bixler. “I was out here watching the matinee races
and it’s just something I always loved.”
After graduation, Bixler obtained two degrees from Bluffton University
but came back to what has intrigued him since the age of five.
I really took interest in this after collage when I started training
some,” said Bixler. “I’ve been racing pretty steady for about six years
now and felt comfortable in doing this as a career so we’re going for
it.”
As a trainer, Bixler is making a name for himself and is gaining some
much needed momentum.
“In nearly one hundred starts this year, we’ve been in the winner’s
circle fifteen times,” said Bixler. “We’ve had earnings over $60,000
this year. My goal at the start of the year was to hit $100,000 for
earnings. That’s not all profit but just income before expenses. We’re
going to have to pick it up in the last four months if we’re going to
make it. This year’s been really good and we’ve had a lot of success
and things are going in the right direction.”
As of now, Bixler is co-owner of five horses with an 11 year old pacing
mare named Brush The Sand.
“We had her for a long time and she became more of a pet,” said Bixler.
“She’s not as competitive as she once was but we’ve kept her with the
intentions of breeding her. We thought we’d give her one more year to
see if she still had it but this will probably be her last year to
race.”
Going from Brush The Sand, Bixler talked of his number one horse, a six
year old gelding pacer named Lieutenant Steve.
“He is the fastest horse in the Bixler Stables,” said Gavin. “He took a
mark of 1:51.4 at Hoosier Park this year. We claimed him back in late
April and he’s had a win and a couple of seconds since then. He’s been
a lot of fun to be with and is probably the best and most competitive
I’ve ever been a part of.”
Currently, Bixler has plenty of room in his stables and is looking to
take in horses for individual owner.
“Right now I feel I could stable 10-12 horses,” said Bixler. “I have a
very good right hand man that is very helpful and is also the
blacksmith, Steve Moon. He is a big part of the success in this stables
and I can rely on him. He can get the horses to the track and can get
them ready to race. He’s a great person to have here.”
Bixler said if there are any new owners that will need to stable
horses, he can be reached at 937-459-8573.
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