With his horse Cassis one of the favourites for Saturday’s $1.5 million Hambletonian, Ray Schnittker hardly seemed to be feeling the pressure
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Two years ago when he piloted the unbeaten Deweycheatumnhowe to victory in the sport’s biggest encounter there may have been pressure. Today, he’s light, bubbly and expecting things to go well on this most important day of the harness calendar.
Perhaps key to Schnittker’s disposition and outlook is his roots in the sport. Originally he worked full time at a factory in Western New York and part-time with his dad Warren with the family’s racing stable. They competed at Buffalo and Batavia on a regular basis and had success.
“We always wanted to improve our stock,” he recalled. Everyone else just wanted to have horses to race, we wanted to get better horses and race for more money,” Schnittker recalled.
Eventually the Schnittkers’ success led to difficulty in getting all of their horses raced. So in 1986, with a five-horse stable, Warren and Ray left for the metropolitan New York area.
“The first week we had two of our horses claimed,” said the 52-year-old. But that didn’t dissuade them or send them back home. “It worked out pretty well actually because the horses that were claimed we made a profit on and those we bought for $10,000 and $15,000 in Buffalo proved to be $50,000 horses at Yonkers.”
With their own money invested along with longtime backer Ron Kelkenberg, the Schnittkers’ stable grew to some 25 head, and by the third year at Yonkers they took the training title at the metropolitan oval.
The father-son team also always bought yearlings. “Back when we were in Buffalo we would go to the sales every year to buy yearlings. We’d spend $2,000-$3,000 and did fairly well,” said Schnittker of their early forays into buying and developing youngsters.
The stable continued to be successful but Ray always had his eyes set on improving their stock. “We always dreamed of having a Hambletonian horse,” he reflected.
Late in 1995 Ray went out to purchase yearlings and found one that improved his stock dramatically. His first Hambo horse, Armbro Plato, was plucked from the fall sales in Kentucky for $55,000. Two years later Schnittker and Armbro Plato he finished third to Malabar Man in the Hambletonian.
Catapulted by that success and a strong work ethic, Schnittker continued to upgrade his stable and convert his once solely race horse collection into nearly all two and three-year-old stakes horses. His 65-horse stable now has just 12 aged horses with the rest focused on the Sire and Grand Circuit stakes programs.
Schnittker’s success and personality has helped him gain a strong following in the ownership ranks. His core principles suggest that he must own at least 25 percent of each horse he races to be profitable, yet in the case of Cassis, Saturday’s Hambletonian entry, Ray found he had to offer a piece to more people and wound up with just 15 percent.
Fiercely competitive by nature, Ray seems much looser and appears to be having more fun this time around. Some years back he might have balked at the suggestion of letting a catch-driver race one of his horses in a big race. Today, he’s happy to see others in the bike.
“Some of my owners thought that I should drive Cassis in the Hambletonian,” remarked Ray. “I’ve developed a relationship with these guys, especially Tim (Tetrick). I don’t think it would be right to do that to them.”
If there’s one thing that separates Schnittker from many other horsemen it is his willingness to part with a young and promising two-year-old. He’s proud of the fact that he sold Here Comes Herbie for $750,000 and Strong Yankee for $550,000 when they were two-year-olds. He also sold a large share of Deweycheatumnhowe at a seven-figure value when the colt was two. “It’s like shooting dice, you have to take some money off the table or you’ll never finish ahead,” he said making a most fitting horse racing-casino analogy.
In Cassis Schnittker believes he has a real chance at capturing his second Hambo in three years. “When he got beat in the Dancer people were questioning whether he could go on the big track. Actually, I thought he was roughed up a little (stung to a :26.4 opening quarter) and raced pretty well,” he recalled. “You generally find out by the second start at the Meadowlands whether the horse is going to be able to race here or not.”
In the case of Cassis his second start was far more impressive with his personal best 1:52.4 clocking proving to be the fastest of the three eliminations.
Though Schnittker changed Cassis to all aluminum shoes, he didn’t believe that was any magic pill in regards to his performance. The Cantab Hall-sired colt has won eight of 10 starts this year with seconds in the other two races. Both defeats came in races he trotted sub :27 opening quarters.
There will be plenty for Schnittker and his connections to be cheering about on Saturday. Along with the Hambletonian entry of Cassis, the team will send out Meadowlands Pace winner One More Laugh in the Oliver Wendell Holmes. The sophomore has eclipsed Schnittker’s first millionaire pacer Covert Action on the racetrack in just his first two years (Covert Action raced until he was 10). “I don’t think he ever got the credit he deserved last year. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a two-year-old put in the kind of mile he paced in the Governor’s Cup at Chester,” said Ray.
One More Laugh’s talent was compromised in the North America Cup where he drew post eight in both elimination and final of the race. In that final he was trapped through the entire stretch while overloaded with pace. Again in the Meadowlands Pace elimination traffic would play a pivotal role in the outcome. Despite a :26 second final quarter One More Laugh could not make up the distance between him and race winner Rock N Roll Heaven.
Driver Tim Tetrick wasn’t going to allow One More Laugh to be too far back in the Meadowlands Pace final. He put the gelding in great position early and then finished with his usual wild abandon to collar Rock N Roll Heaven in a 1:47.4 thriller.
For Schnittker ,who appears to like nothing more than racing good horses, One More Laugh gives him the opportunity to race at the highest level for years to come. But Ray seems in no hurry to enjoy the future. He’s having way too much fun in the present.
(Hambletonian Society)