by Kimberly French, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Kimberly French

Louisville, KY — Sent off as the favorite in the 2005 Hambletonian, Classic Photo was defeated by Vivid Photo for the $1.5 million purse, but Todd Schadel, who just happened to co-own the victorious gelding, possessed no reservations about breeding to the stallion and is quite pleased with how Classic Martine, the result of this mating, is performing.

“We bought the mare (Drinking Days) in Cream Ridge, N.J., because we thought she had some nice breeding to her,” he said. “We picked the cheapest stud we could find for her first foal to just see what she would throw. I have her second foal, who is by SJ’s Caviar, in training, but I don’t think he’s anything like Classic Martine. Classic Photo clicked with her a lot better than SJ’s Caviar, but she does have a beautiful yearling by Explosive Matter.”

Classic Martine started her career on June 29, 2012 with a second place finish in an 8,000 2-year-old contest at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs. She was then second in a $35,000 Pennsylvania All Stars event the following week before coming home fifth but being placed fourth in a $76,334 PA Sire Stake race.

Racehorsephoto.com photo

Classic Martine was a 1:55.3 winner in the Bobby Weiss Series final.

The filly broke her maiden in a $25,000 division of the Arden Downs, but it took four more miles, all in Sires Stake company, before she had her picture taken again at the York County Fair on Sept. 11. She ended her season with another triumph in the $38,399 Keystone Classic at The Meadows.

She earned $95,523 in her first season with a mark of 1:58.2f.

She started this year with a second in the first leg of the Bobby Weiss Series at Pocono Downs on April 7 and continued this year’s campaign with victories in the next three legs of the series, before winning the $30,000 final on May 5.

In her most recent outing this past Friday, Classic Martine was third behind Mistery Woman and Lady Broadway in a $59,080 Pennsylvania Sire Stakes race at The Meadows.

In 2013 she has now earned $48,339 and lowered her mark to 1:55.1f

“She was a real nice filly all along while she was training down,” Schadel said. “I didn’t know how much talent she had, but she was a decent filly last year and she came back nicely this year. Andy Miller has been driving her and done a great job with her. He likes her a whole lot, so we will see.”

As far as what direction Classic Martine will be pointed in after her appearance in the PaSS remains uncertain, but Schadel and his wife Christine made sure she would have plenty of opportunities to show what she is made of.

“She is a big, strong, good-gaited filly,” he said. “She got all those races in her at Pocono and the next day after each one, you wouldn’t even know she had raced. I was very happy with that. She is staked to everything here in Pennsylvania, the Hudson, the Hambletonian Oaks and a few other stakes, too, but I really just go by week to week.”