There is no getting around it; trip plays a massive part in the harness racing game. A handful of bad trips at the wrong times can turn a notable horse into
a thing of the past. When One More Laugh's trainer, Ray Schnittker, says that he doesn't care whether the driver "parks him for the whole mile" or not, people wonder just what kind of equine we are witnessing.
At the Wednesday post position draw for the 2010 Meadowlands Pace, Schnittker exuded extreme confidence in his charge. One More Laugh, a career winner of 11 of 18 races, paced to a 1:49.2 effort over a five-eighths mile oval last year at two. His mark, earnings, and some of his prior stakes performances stamp him as a major stakes player.
Although, when a trainer comes out and says that it doesn't matter if his charge takes air for the whole mile against the top horses currently racing on the continent, one really has to take a step back and consider what is being said.
"I actually don't even care if Tim parks him for the whole mile," Schnittker told Meadowlands Racetrack Statistician Bob 'Hollywood' Heyden. "I think he can take that air, and if he ever gets a second-over trip, or third, with some live cover, I think we'd be in some really good shape. And maybe if he cut it he might be alright."
One thing that Schnittker understands in full is that there is a lot of money to go around throughout the course of the season, and that keeping his gelded son of McArdle in good form for the rest of the campaign will pay off in spades.
"I just want to keep him sound for the rest of the year," said the trainer. "If he's not tight now, he's never going to be tight."