Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

Deweycheatumnhowe Now 11 for 11

June 27, 2008

Deweycheatumnhowe, the early favorite for the $1.5 million Hambletonian, kept his perfect record intact as he won his 2008 debut in 1:53.3 on Friday night at the Meadowlands.

Driver-trainer Ray Schnittker steered the colt to his 11th straight win in the $79,100 Dickerson Cup, race three on the card. Schnittker settled Dewey in fourth around the first turn, then unleashed a backside brush that took them to the top in :55.3. Dewey kicked away from the field entering the stretch, but Schnittker had to call upon the colt again in the final strides to hold off the late run of his entrymate, Kajan Kooker. Sent off the 1-9 favorite, Dewey paid $2.10.

"I wasn't worried," Schnittker said of the half-length margin. "He was just coasting along. I tapped him and then he just took off again. No matter how many times you qualify, the first start back is always the toughest. He put in a good mile last week and sometimes they bounce a little after a qualifier like that. He's a good horse, but he is going to get beat at some point"

Dewey went undefeated in 10 starts as a freshman and set a single-season earnings record of $936,191 for a 2-year-old trotting colt. He is the early favorite to win harness racing's greatest prize, the $1.5 million Hambletonian, on August 2 at the Meadowlands. Dewey will make his next start in the July 4 eliminations for the Stanley Dancer Memorial Trot.

Schnittker co-owns the son of Muscles Yankee-Trolley Square with Ted Gewertz, Charles Iannazzo, Frank Baldassare and the Deweycheatumnhowe Stable [Walnut Hall and Jerry Silva].