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Old Oaken Bucket Training Sweep For Schnittker;
Cassis Gets It Done
Ray Schnittker made it a training sweep of the Old Oaken
Bucket this afternoon at Ohio's Delaware County Fairgrounds when
he guided his Cantab Hall colt Cassis to victory in 1:55.2.

Schnittker
opted to steer
Cassis himself in the dash, as he took over for regular
driver Tim Tetrick. Schnittker had stated beforehand, during an
interview on the simulcast show, that Tetrick is still the
colt's regular driver, but that he just wanted to steer the colt
over the hallowed half-mile track this day.
After the call to post was delayed for a short instant,
Schnittker and his colt lined up in the Post 4 slot. That was
the closest the rest of the field would come to the duo on this
day. Schnittker fired his pupil off the gate, carved the
fractions in :27.2, :56.4 and 1:26 and came home well in hand
with a :29.2 final quarter mile.
The win was the tenth of Cassis' 16-race career. He has now
won nine of his 14 starts this season.
Sing Jesse Sing (driven by Dave Palone), who sat the pocket
throughout the mile and took an unsuccessful shot at Cassis in
the lane, finished second. Defend The Rock (Dave Magee) raced
third throughout the mile and finished in that position at the
wire.
Flex The Muscle Lowers NA Season's Mark In First 'Bucket'
Split

The Ray Schnittker-trained and David Miller-driven
Flex The Muscle took the opening division of the Old Oaken
Bucket for three-year-old trotting colts and geldings today at
Ohio's Delaware County Fairgrounds.
The Muscles Yankee colt took the dash in 1:54.4, which
lowered the North American season's record for the division and
class (the previous mark of 1:55.4 had been recorded by both
himself and Cassis this summer).
Flex The Muscle took the gate-to-wire route in his Old Oaken
Bucket victory. The career winner of 12 of 28 races left from
Post 4 in the six-horse field and cut the fractions in :27.2,
:56 and 1:24.4. He came home with a 28-second final quarter and
delivered on his 1-5 post-time promise.
Great Emancipator (driven by Brad Kramer) took a pocket ride
throughout and finished second. My D Sammy (Jimmy Smith), who
was gapped in third for much of the dash, finished third.
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