Charlie Iannazzo is optimistic about the future of his two-year-old male pacer Huntsville, but knows that success at the division’s top level won’t come easily.
“So far, this guy looks like a monster,” said Iannazzo, who bred Huntsville with trainer Ray Schnittker and owns the colt with Schnittker, Ted Gewertz, and Steve Arnold. “He just looks like the real deal.
“But there are a lot of good horses with a lot of good trainers out there. It’s a very tough division. He’s going to be in a tough race every race. That’s why we’re taking it one race at a time.”
Huntsville’s next race is Wednesday in a $47,468 division of the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes at The Meadows. And it looks like a tough race. Five of the six horses in the field already have won a race and as a group the six horses have combined to finish first or second in nine of 11 starts.
Tim Tetrick will drive Huntsville for Schnittker. Huntsville, who debuted with a second-place finish by a length to Filibuster Hanover in a division of the Pennsylvania All-Stars and then won by a neck over Downbytheseaside in 1:51.4 in a sire stakes split at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, is the 5-2 morning line favourite.
The Jimmy Takter-trained Blood Line, this season’s fastest two-year-old with a mark of 1:51.3, is the 3-1 second choice, followed by Brian Brown’s Downbytheseaside at 7-2 and Ron Burke’s Filibuster Hanover at 4-1.
Huntsville is a son of Somebeachsomewhere out of the mare Wild West Show. He is a full brother to stakes-winners Cowboy Terrier and Stevensville. The family also includes stakes-winner Northern Luck.
“He’s big and strong,” Iannazzo said of Hunstville, whose training regimen, like other Schnittker horses, includes swimming. “In his last start, Timmy took him off the gate and then with a big brush circled the field (on his way to a :27 third quarter). He looked like a freight train because of his size.
“He’s just a tremendously well-built and conformed colt. He’s racing like he looks the part. I’m very encouraged.”
Huntsville’s stakes schedule includes the Bluegrass, Breeders Crown, Governor’s Cup, International Stallion, and Keystone Classic. He was eligible to last weekend’s Sheppard Pace at Yonkers, but Iannazzo said the colt was not entered to focus on his upcoming sire stakes slate. As it turned out, another horse from the Schnittker Stable, Summer Side, won the Sheppard.
Wednesday’s four Pennsylvania Sire Stakes divisions also feature early-season speedsters The Wall (mark of 1:51.4), Fear The Dragon (1:52.2), and Beach House (1:52.4).
The Wall, another Takter trainee, is the 5-2 morning line favorite in the fourth division, where Rich Gillock’s Beach House is the 7-2 second choice. Brown’s Fear The Dragon is the 2-1 pick in the second division while Christopher Choate’s Western Joe is the 5-2 favourite in the opening division.
“With the talent of the two-year-old pacing colts in Pennsylvania, it’s going to take an exceptional horse to outperform them,” Iannazzo said. “Right now, we’re very positive. I’m looking forward to Wednesday. The next few races will tell us a lot. But we’re looking forward to something special.”
The Meadows’ Wednesday card will kick off at 1 p.m.
This story courtesy of Harness Racing Communications, a division of the U.S. Trotting Association. For more information, visit www.ustrotting.com.