Todd Schadel has enjoyed a good deal of success at the Pennsylvania fairs, particularly in recent years, and the 2021 campaign managed to surpass them all.
Schadel was the leading trainer and driver at the fairs for the fourth consecutive year and set a career high with 88 training victories on the circuit. He won 69 times as a driver, falling short of his all-time best of 76, but saw his son Cody visit the winner’s circle 23 times in his first full season in the sulky. Cody ranked ninth in the driver standings.
This past Saturday, the Schadels — Todd, wife Christine, and Cody — were honoured as Pennsylvania’s Outstanding Fair Stable by the Keystone chapter of the U.S. Harness Writers Association at its annual awards banquet.
“We had a phenomenal year,” Todd said. “We had a bunch of nice horses. We just went out there and did the best we could do. The last couple fair years have been very good for us. I think this year topped it all off.”
One day that stood out to Todd was July 2 at Silver Springs Ranch, where he and Cody combined to drive all eight winners in Pennsylvania Fair Sire Stakes action.
“I’d never been to a fair where we won every race,” Todd said. “It was pretty awesome.”
Overall in 2021, Todd set career highs as a trainer with 106 victories and $717,103 in purses. Lifetime, the 54-year-old Spring Glen resident has won more than 1,400 races and $10 million in purses as a trainer. He is approaching 1,700 triumphs and $10 million as a driver.
Cody, who turns 20 on Friday, won a total of 25 races and $105,173 in purses as a driver last year. He frequently drove three-year-old female trotter Cheesy Hanover, who gave Cody nine of his victories at the fairs. Cody also got his first pari-mutuel triumph with the filly, winning by 6-1/4 lengths at odds of 9-5 at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono in June.
“That was cool,” Cody said. “I was pretty confident. I really liked her. She was nice to drive, pretty much in every way. You could do whatever you wanted with her.”
Interestingly, Cody’s final drive of 2021 came behind Cheesy Hanover at Pocono, and he notched his second pari-mutuel win with a nose score, again at odds of 9-5.
“This is pretty much what I always wanted to do since I’ve always been around it,” Cody said. “I was at the barn ever since I was little. I like jogging the horses, just working with them really. I’m more confident now than when I was starting out. I just go out and do the best I can.”
Todd, who along with fellow Pennsylvania fairs stalwart Roger Hammer owned 2005 Hambletonian winner Vivid Photo, said he expects Cody to drive more often at Pocono this year, particularly prior to the fair season.
“He’s done a very good job so far,” Todd said. “He’s helped me train all the colts and stuff, and that’s been a big help for both me and him. He learns a lot more that way. Training and driving the older horses, they do it for you pretty much. I felt learning to deal with young horses would help his career down the road.
“Who knows what will happen. It’s a matter of what kind of horses you get to drive. It helps when you get good stock to drive. It makes you look good, and you get that opportunity to drive better horses all the time. That’s a big plus. You’ve got to have some talent, there is no doubt about that, but if you go out there and just drive bad horses all the time it doesn’t do you any good. He was lucky. He had a lot of nice horses to drive last year.”
With a stable approaching 30 horses, which is a little more than usual for the Schadels, Todd hopes Cody gets more opportunities this season and the family’s success continues.
“Hopefully,” he said, “we’ll fire back at it again this year.”
(USTA)