Stevensville (Somebeachsomewhere) scored in his debut in the Open Pace at Saratoga Casino Hotel on Saturday night 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. 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 six 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 with a matinee set to kick off at 12:15pm.
Mike Sardella
Photo: Michael A. Panzarino
