Jeffrey Snyder has owned multiple O'Brien Award winning horses over his years of involvement in harness racing, and is one of a few that boast owning a Standardbred named Canada's Horse of the Year. But those awards do not take anything away from his nomination in 2016 thanks to the season of freshman pacing colt Beyond Delight.
"We were thrilled that Beyond Delight turned into the horse he did," Snyder told Trot Insider. "He developed later and it was quite a surprise that he raced so well against open company."
Snyder's Beyond Delight is a finalist in the two-year-old pacing colt category along with Sports Column. The winners will be announced at the annual O’Brien Awards Black Tie Gala on Saturday, January 28, 2017 at the Hilton Mississauga / Meadowvale Hotel in Mississauga, Ont.
Beyond Delight, a son of Bettors Delight out of the Rocknroll Hanover mare Outtathisworld, won three of 11 races and more than $423,000 for Snyder, his son Michael and the Four Friends Racing Stable of Moorestown, N.J. His three wins were major ones as he swept the elimination and final of the Metro and won a division of the Champlain Stakes, all at Mohawk Racetrack.
Snyder naturally tabbed winning the Metro, the division's richest stakes event, as the highlight of Beyond Delight's season. He gave full marks to the horse, a $50,000 Harrisburg purchase, and the team at trainer Tony O'Sullivan's stable for the job they did to make the year as delightful as it was.
While Snyder was surprised by the late-blooming colt's seasonal success, the call from Standardbred Canada to notify him Beyond Delight was an O'Brien Award finalist didn't come as a shock.
"Actually we were expecting to be nominated due to the horse's performance, but it's always exciting to hear from Kathy [SC's Manager of Industry Marketing Kathy Wade Vlaar] that we were nominated."
The Snyders with the O'Brien Award and Horse of the Year Award won by Michaels Power in 2012
A winner of O'Brien Awards over the years with horses the likes of Cams Card Shark, Rocknroll Hanover, Well Said and 2012 Horse of the Year Michaels Power, Snyder holds Canada's black tie awards gala in the highest regard.
"We have won several O'Brien Awards and always look forward to a great evening as it's, in our opinion, the best awards program in the industry."
For a full list of O'Brien Award finalists, click here. For details about the Black Tie Gala and how to purchase tickets, click here.