Admittedly winning races in bunches is not new and something
that happens daily…for professional drivers. However, when an amateur joins the
fray it becomes newsworthy for many reasons not the least of which it’s a real
rarity especially against professional drivers.
Schwartz’s first victory of the Mighty M afternoon of April
9th was a catch-drive behind the Paula Macedonio-trained Doc’s
Whiskey when he sent the pacer to the lead and went wire to wire winning by a
length in a time of 2:00.1 over Rhea Nourrir and driver Truman Gale.
In his only other drive on the card, Schwartz sat the pocket
with Pembroke Boogie and then scooted down the passing lane when it opened,and
rallied to a 2:00 victory, albeit by just a head over Early Morning and driver
Mike Merton.
Schwartz’s sudden prowess –seven wins in his last 10
starts--has caught the eye of journalist Bill Finley who had a conversation
with Schwartz and posted it on ‘Harness Update’.
Finley started by acknowledging that
Schwartz’s two wins on Monday and then three wins on Thursday at
Monticello may be an unprecedented feat for an amateur driver. Then he
added “have you ever been that hot?”
“Absolutely not,” Schwartz replied. “I believe it is a
combination of everything. No matter how well you drive if the horses aren’t
ready you’re not going to win. For me, everything peaked at the same time.”
That query—and others from Finley—concerned last week’s
performance by the amateur driver. Now with two more wins in two drives to
start this week Finley’s comments loom even larger.
Thus far this season at the Mighty M Schwartz has driven 24
winners in just 78 starts good for 10th place on the local
leaderboard. And his .416 UDR is tops , some 45 points higher than runner-up
Jimmy Marohn, Jr.’s .361.
Asked if he can continue to win races at this clip he
has recently, to which Schwartz answered: “ It certainly would be wonderful but
I’m not counting on it happening. Maybe it will if my horses hold up but
only time will tell and as we know there are so many variables in racing.
So for now I’ll just enjoy my good fortune and keep striving for perfection.”
