First training win for Matt Rosiek was special

Trenton, NJ — Harness racing trainer Matt Rosiek discovered his version of the “good book” at an early age. It wasn’t the Bible, but it did help show him the way.

“I’ve studied the trainer’s book since I was eight years old,” Rosiek said. “My grandfather gave it to me, and I don’t know how many times I’ve read that from front to back.”

The more times he read it, the more he wanted to be a Standardbred trainer. Matt’s dream came true at age 29 when he got his training license earlier this year, followed by his first training win March 22 with Treasurethosechips at Buffalo Raceway.

It was his fourth start since taking over the operation from his uncle and mentor, Kevin Cummings, who drove the 6-year-old female pacer to the victory.

“We tried the week before as hard as we could, we got a two-hole trip and came up a (head) short,” Rosiek recalled. “The following week, we did cut the mile. She was strong. She stayed up front the whole time for the mile. She was pretty handy, Kevin did it pretty easily.”

Matt admitted that after being his uncle’s second trainer for the past decade, there was a special feeling from getting the win with his name on the sheet.

“There really was,” he said. “It was different. My grandfather (the late John Cummings Sr.) was the one that got us all into the business. I always think back to him. He taught me a lot in the business. I always think about him before I go to the gate, and it felt like he was there.”

John Cummings was a renowned Western New York horseman who trained Arm And A Leg, the 2009 Western New York Horse of the Year. Cummings had 731 wins and earned over $1.8 million in 3,779 training starts before passing away in 2019.

Matt was so taken with what John did that, unbeknownst to his mom, Colleen Gallagher, he would head over to grandpa’s barn after school let out.

“That’s just what I loved to do,” he said. “I was always trying to get over there. We had horses all over Western New York.”

Rosiek’s love for the sport began at age 10 when he attended a harness racing youth league at The Meadows in Western Pennsylvania. During their stay, campers had to groom the horse that they were going to qualify and race at week’s end.

“I qualified him great and when I raced him, I won by 20-plus lengths,” Rosiek said proudly. “That’s what really got my blood flowing at a young age. It was pretty cool. My whole family thought it was great.”

Colleen, however, was not sold on the idea of her son joining her father and brothers in the business, as four of John’s five sons followed him into harness racing. Thus, Matt kept quiet about his afternoon treks to the stable.

“Growing up my mom kind of kept me away from the track, but it was inevitable,” he said. “It was almost like she didn’t want me to be out there, but I would go anyway. I loved the horses. I always loved the business.”

His mom just didn’t love the uncertainty of it.

“She watched her brothers grow up with it and it’s an up and down kind of business,” Rosiek said. “When you’re up it’s great, when you’re down it is tough but you find a way to power through. My mom wasn’t really sour on the aspect of me doing it; she didn’t try to aggressively keep me out, she just told me there were other options. She told me whatever I chose to do, just be the best at it.”

Matt chose to be an electrician after high school. He joined the union and promptly got laid off. That’s when his uncle, driver/trainer Kevin Cummings, “asked me to come out and grease and pack some horses for him. I said ‘yeah’ and I’ve been out there for 10 years. It’s like I was meant to be there.”

He certainly wasn’t meant to install lighting fixtures.

“No,” Rosiek said. “They say you gotta love what you do. That was not it.”

Shortly after he began working for Uncle Kevin, they claimed Helena’s Hope for $6,000 and had a successful run with her. He was 20 at the time.

“Ever since then I was kind of hooked in the game,” he said.

Matt got his groom’s license and served as Kevin Cummings’ second trainer until this past year.

“He taught me a lot along the way,” Rosiek said. “Kevin has four daughters, and everyone always told me I looked like Kevin. He kind of took me under his wing like a son and taught me everything right. He wanted to teach me everything the right way. Even if he didn’t do it the right way himself, he wanted me to be taught the right way.”

It was actually a good situation for them both.

“He had, like, a rebirth,” Matt said. “He had a kind of new love for the business that he could actually teach someone how to do it, starting right from the beginning.”

Rosiek learned his lessons well and the two enjoyed varying degrees of success together. Matt never showed much of an inclination to drive, despite Cummings’ prodding.

“Every time me and Kevin would train together, he’d tell me I’m nuts, and I should get my driver’s license,” Rosiek said. “He said I’m built perfectly for it. But I feel like I’m just kind of too old now. It should have been a younger thing.”

He finally got his trainer’s license in late February, which is when Kevin turned the operation over to Matt. He is now the official trainer of Treasurethosechips and an 11-year-old male pacer, Gallery Opening. Kevin, who has been the leading driver at Buffalo and Batavia a combined 11 times, does all the driving.

The two are working to make Treasurethosechips better and Matt will probably look for another home for Gallery Opening.

“I’m trying to get (Treasure) as sharp as she’s ever been and keep working my way up the ladder,” he said. “She was in the Ohio Sire Stakes; I like her a lot. We got her last November and had a tough start with her. We had back-to-back snowstorms where the tracks weren’t even joggable. We were just getting into working with her. Now we’re just starting to see the results.”

Rosiek’s main focus is to upgrade his stock, noting that “good horses make good trainers.” He will look to buy but is not averse to claiming.

“I like to claim horses that are doing good already, or even from other tracks, or anything that sparks my interest, really,” he said. “I’m always trying to build relationships to expand my contacts to try and get better horses.”

Matt has a limited training license stating that he can only train horses he owns, but that’s not an issue.

“I like to have an incentive of my own, so I like to own them myself,” he said. “I’d rather be with my own and make my own decisions. That’s kind of the reason it took so long to get my trainer’s license, but now I’m in full control.”

And he likes where he stands at this stage of his career.

“I’m glad it was a short period of time before I got my first training win after I got my license,” Rosiek said. “I like my mare right now. I’m always gonna expand and get more. I set goals for myself last year and I got them. I’m gonna try to re-set goals this year and achieve them.”

And as for his mom, it appears that all is well.

“It’s come a long way since back then, so she’s understood,” Matt said. “To this day, she’s one of my biggest fans.”

by Rich Fisher, for the USTA