by Mike Sardella, for Saratoga Raceway
Saratoga, NY — Stevensville (Somebeachsomewhere) scored in his debut in the Open Pace at Saratoga Casino Hotel on Saturday night (April 29) and completed a rare natural hat trick for his trainer. Conditioner Ray Schnittker brought three horses to town to compete on Saturday night and his stable went three-for-three.
Michael Panzarino photo
Stevensville springs the upset in his first appearance at Saratoga Raceway on Saturday evening.
Stevensville pulled off the upset in the $14,500 Open as he picked up cover and followed it all the way en route to the winner’s circle. Mark Beckwith piloted the 6-year-old Schnittker trainee to his second win of the season, a victory that came in 1:53.1 while dismissed at odds of 23-1.
St Lads Moonwalk (Frank Coppola Jr.) was first-over on the race’s favorite In The Huddle (Chris Long) and served as cover for Stevensville before coming up second best. The 3-5 favorite In The Huddle had to settle for third.
Stevensville returned $49.20 to win in the biggest upset in an Open thus far in 2017 at the Spa and started an exacta and triple that paid $212 and $713, respectively. Schnittker’s One More Laugh and OK Fantastic went coast-to-coast to secure their Saturday scores and both did so with Phil Fluet in the sulky.
Live racing continues on Sunday afternoon (April 30) with a matinee set to kick off at 12:15 p.m.