Hoosier: Huntsville straight, strong in Jenna's Beach Boy

After a pair of losses in Pennsylvania, Huntsville was back on his game in the $160,000 Jenna's Beach Boy for 3-year-old colt pacers on Friday night at Hoosier Park, turning in a 1:49 1/5 victory.

Sports Column (Brett Miller) was hustled away early from post seven, but Huntsville (Tim Tetrick) came to his outside to gain the front at the 26 4/5 opening quarter. Huntsville would be unpressured through middle-half stations of 54 3/5 and 1:22 1/5, but Sports Column came back to the outside and battled with him down the long Hoosier Park stretch. Huntsville would not waver, though, winning by a neck over Sports Column, with Beckhams Z Tam (Ricky Macomber Jr.) rallying to get third.

"He drove good tonight, so I was very happy with that," said Tetrick. "He's a very talented colt. We've been right there every time, and when he's on his game he's very tough to beat. Brett gave him a good run, but halfway down the lane I knew he wasn't going to let him by, which made my job a lot easier. My horse raced really good, and we sprinted home hard. My horse hadn't raced in three weeks and the start before that wasn't very pretty, so I'm glad he bounced back the way he did."

Trainer Ray Schnittker also co-owns Huntsville, a Somebeachsomewhere colt, with partners Ted Gewertz, Steven Arnold, and Crawford Farms Racing. This was Huntsville's eighth win of the year, his 15th career victory, and he has now earned $1,685,892 lifetime. He paid $3.00 to win as the 1-2 favorite.

"Just to be at these kind of races and to be a player is a lot of fun," remarked Schnittker. "This is a long stretch, so if he was going to run out it would be here, but I thought he went straight. Actually the way the race went I thought he'd be tough to beat. Once he gets to the front, he hangs tough."