Harness: Schnittker hopes to make some noise with Billy Clyde

All eyes were focused on two colts on Sunday May 16 at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono. The unbeaten 2-year-old Perfect Sting was making his sophomore debut and would go off as the second betting-choice to the fast and gifted Abuckabett Hanover, making his second sophomore start after a blistering opener at The Meadowlands. For most that was the story and at the finish of the 1:50 mile, Abuckabett Hanover ended the winning streak of his rival and opened the door to a 3-year-old season that now offers a wider expanse.

The seven-horse field at Pocono for the $51,045 first local Pennsylvania Sire Stakes of the season was filled with talent that included last year's co-Breeders Crown champion Summa Cum Laude as well as the multiple stakes winner Lou's Pearlman, who both saw early activity in the race and would finish off the board. Perhaps one horse that didn't have public attention before the race may rise to this level as the season progresses. We're talking specifically about Billy Clyde, who was making just his ninth career start on Sunday but looked and acted like a horse with immense talent and certainly potential.

"Doc Egloff sent him to me as a baby," said Ray Schnittker, Billy Clyde's co-owner and trainer. "He had a chip taken out of a hind leg as a yearling and asked me to train him. He told me if I liked him, I could buy into him and that's what I did."

Billy Clyde is a beautiful-looking horse that probably could have brought considerable money at a yearling sale if he was fit enough at the time, but Schnittker was able to benefit from having the inside track to the colt from the first crop of Always B Miki. On pedigree alone there's much to like about Billy Clyde, just the third foal from the $225K winning Jan It Jackson. The dam hit with her first foal Semi Tough, a stakes campaigner for the Burke brigade that earned over $624K. Billy Clyde is her third foal and second colt.

Putting pedigree aside for the moment, Billy Clyde raced just five times as a 2-year-old with one victory, but that wasn't exactly the way Schnittker had envisioned his freshman campaign.

"He was staked pretty good," said Schnittker, who saw potential in Billy Clyde from the outset and had to be encouraged last June when Billy Clyde debuted at The Meadowlands to capture a baby race in 1:55 1/5 with a 1:24 final three quarters. Billy Clyde then made a solid stakes debut finishing third from off the pace on July 2 at Pocono behind the aforementioned Lou's Pearlman.

"He developed a foot infection that we had trouble dealing with," said Schnittker, who saw hopes of lucrative returns in the Sire Stakes slip away at the time. "We brought him back at Lexington but honestly I never thought he was at his best."

Billy Clyde qualified well enough at The Meadowlands in September with a 1:52 3/5 victory but went on to miss a check racing against the cream of the freshman crop at The Red Mile.

In 2021 Billy Clyde was given a solid foundation, and teamed with driver Mark MacDonald, breezed to a pair of non-winners-of-2 victories in April at Pocono in advance of stakes activity.

On May 1 Billy Clyde drew badly and had to come from the back at The Meadows in the opening sire stakes leg yet got a check in a race won by Southwind Gendry.

Despite the decent tune-ups, it was somewhat of a surprise to see MacDonald race Billy Clyde as aggressively as he appeared to last Sunday once the favored Abuckabett Hanover had cleared the top three-eighths in and last year's champ Perfect Sting was in the pocket. Yet MacDonald and Billy Clyde meant business as they buzzed up without cover and attacked the favorites through a 27 2/5 third quarter. Billy Clyde couldn't get to the top pair, but it was his performance in the final quarter, paced in 26 2/5 by the winner, that stood out. Though outkicked barely by Red Right Hand (the horse he provided perfect cover to) Billy Clyde held firmly and finished fourth.

"He's coming along," said Schnittker briefly of the progress Billy Clyde his made this year. In addition to the Sire Stakes there are plenty of Grand Circuit races he's eligible to including the Meadowlands Pace in July.

From the pedigree side, maybe 2021 will be the year for Billy Clyde and his rich maternal family. That seems to be an early indicator if we can just look at the power sent out by Sunshine Beach last Saturday at The Meadowlands. With Ontario shut down, three sons of the young sire paced sub-1:50 clockings in East Rutherford, with Poseidon Seelster's 1:47 4/5 the fastest. Jan It Jackson, the dam of Billy Clyde, is out of a half-sister to Sunshine Beach.

On the trotting side of the Schnittker stable this spring we have seen the return to action of Can't Say No, a sensational 2-year-old prospect in 2019 that was injured and missed his entire 3-year-old season.

"I think he could be a nice Open-type horse either here at Pocono or Yonkers," said Schnittker of the 4-year-old son of Explosive Matter that's finished five times first or second in seven 2021 starts.

While it's almost always too early to talk about 2-year-olds given how rapidly their fortunes change from May to June to July, Schnittker won't be rushing his along when baby races begin in the next few weeks. There's a lot riding for Schnittker's protégé Huntsville, who will see his first crop hit the racetrack soon.

"I've got a couple of nice ones," said Schnittker, who has also heard from other trainers on the subject.

Schnittker also trained and raced So Surreal before that son of Somebeachsomewhere became the first marketable stallion by the sport's leading pacing sire.

"So Surreal has done really well," said Schnittker, noting how his offspring has branched out beyond New York's borders. "I've got a nice colt by him named J D that's training down well," said Schnittker.

Perhaps the most intriguing of the 2-year-olds in Schnittker's stable is King Of The North, the first colt out of Schnittker's star Check Me Out. King Of The North is from the first crop of Walner. "He's been very calm," said Schnittker, comparing this colt to others from the dam. "He's done everything right so far."