by David Mattia, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Plainfield, NJ — Make It Happen is a 3-year-old trotting colt that has somehow managed to sneak under the radar screen despite having earned over $400,000 and taking a lifetime mark of 1:54.4s. When this high-speed colt goes postward in Saturday night’s $605,854 Yonkers Trot final he’ll be looking to elevate his visibility and perhaps thrust himself into the kind of limelight he seems to deserve.

Upon closer examination, however, one begins to understand why this talented son of Conway Hall may have been just a tad ignored in certain circles. After all, the poor lad raced his heart out last year in the shadow of his great stablemate Deweycheatumnhowe, and if that economy-class seat wasn’t enough of an encumbrance, he was further pushed aside by the incredible seasons of Donato Hanover and Snow White. So, while everyone was looking in another direction, Make It Happen somehow made it happen and raked in $273,908 as a 2-year-old.

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Make It Happen took his freshman mark of 1:58.2 by defeating Mr Mission in a Valley Victory elimination. He was second to Deweycheatumnhowe in the final.

“Any other year I would have been tickled to death to have a horse like Make It Happen,” said his trainer/driver and co-owner, Ray Schnittker. “It’s just that Dewey went undefeated and just like everybody else, Make It Happen kind of played second fiddle in the barn. He’s a really good horse but Dewey pretty much stands over the stable right now.”

“Dewey,” as his people call him, stands over Make It Happen in more ways than one, and Ray Schnittker put that all in keen perspective.

“The difference between Dewey and Make It Happen is kind of like the difference between a linebacker and a quarterback in the NFL,” quipped Schnittker. “Dewey is just this big, huge specimen and Make It Happen is, you know, a small type of horse. He’s built all right and he can trot, but there is a big difference in their strides.”

Ironically enough, Make It Happen, a $100,000 yearling purchase by Schnittker from the Lexington Selected Sale, was a bit pricier than his legendary stablemate. Deweycheatumnhowe sold at the Lexington Selected Sale for only $80,000. So, at the very least, Make It Happen has bragging rights where cost is concerned, which is nice.

Ray Schnittker told us why he picked Make It Happen out of the sale, and why he was okay with paying such a hefty sum.

“I had a brother of his for Brittany Farms,” recalled Schnittker. “It was a horse named Man Of Action (he earned $187,736 and took a 2-year-old mark of 1:57.3s) and Kevin Lare had the really nice sister named Jersey Gal (1:54.1, $194,872). She was a really tough filly. They’re all out of the same mare (Meadowbranch Magic) so he was worth it.”

Meadowbranch Magic, a daughter of Valley Victory, is the dam of six foals that have collectively earned $802,418, and two of those foals, a 2006 colt by Angus Hall named Magic Carpet Ride, and a 2007 colt by Conway Hall named Wishing Stone, have yet to race. The aforementioned Man Of Action and Jersey Gal were both sired by Malabar Man.

The Yonkers Trot is a race rich in history and prestige, and in the past it has been won by legends like Scott Frost, Duke Rodney, Ayres, Noble Victory, Nevele Pride, Super Bowl, Speedy Somolli, Joie De Vie, Baltic Speed and Mack Lobell to name a few. Make It Happen is looking to add his name to that rather elite list for his owners, Eat My Dust Stable (Ray Schnittker and Frank Baldassare), Daisy Acres (William Hayes), Howard Taylor and Jack Adkins, and his breeders, Brittany Farms and Daisy Acres.

“He’s better off the pace,” said Schnittker. “I have to hope that there is a quick half which a lot of times they do in these big money races. If they go a decent half I have a good shot in there.”

Make It Happen has a tough season ahead of him, and it’s not out of the question that he might be as Hambletonian-bound as the presumptive favorite Deweycheatumnhowe. For now, however, if we can presume to do the thinking for him, Mke It Happen’s mind is on both The Yonkers Trot and visions of having his name as boldly displayed in the media as that other horse…what’s his name.