A change of pace takes Snyder to the summit in the Mohawk Million

The prolific owner from New York City has now added a premier trotting race to his resume thanks to Apex’s win at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

by Debbie Little

Owner Jeffrey Snyder has an enviable resume in harness racing, having won a laundry list of pacing stakes, including a record four North America Cups, in addition to three Meadowlands Paces, three Little Brown Jugs, three Breeders Crowns, and multiple Horse of the Year trophies.

But Snyder’s proficient pacing passel has become passe.

“We just switched over to trotters; we had luck with trotters in Europe, including Aetos Kronos [S], so we just got more interested in the trotters,” Snyder said, adding with a laugh, “You know, sometimes you need a change of pace.”

His most recent talented trotter to step into the stakes spotlight is the aptly named Apex, who won the Mohawk Million on Saturday (Sept. 20) at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

Snyder co-owns the impeccably bred 2-year-old son of Walner out of Mission Brief, with Lennart Agren’s S R F Stable, and Steve Stewart. 

Marcus Melander-trained Apex was bred by Mission Brief Stable that is comprised of Stewart and partners Glencairn Racing Stb Inc, Martin Schmucker, Tom Schmucker, Black Creek Farm, Dublin Valley Farm, and Maumee River Stables, and sold at the 2024 Standardbred Horse Sale Company yearling sale in Harrisburg, PA, for $525,000. To date, Mission Brief has sold five foals each for $400,000 or more.

Snyder said he prefers Harrisburg, because he’s “had a lot of luck in Harrisburg.”

In addition to Apex having great parents, Snyder said he was impressed with his full sister, Jaya Bae, who sold at the 2020 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale for $725,000.

“I think that was the second foal out of the dam, and she was very impressive in her baby races, maybe the first one or two races, and she looked tremendous, and then she got sore,” Snyder said.

According to Snyder, he looked at Apex last year at Harrisburg with Melander and Dr. David Goodrow, who passed away this year. All three loved the colt.

“He looked great, but one big reason was that the full sister impressed me a lot early, and she just had some bad luck and got sore, that’s why we decided to pull the trigger there on Apex,” Snyder said. “The fact that it looked like Mission Brief worked well with Walner, kind of swung me over to bid on Apex. And I thought, actually, the $525,000 number, which is high, but I really thought he would go for higher at the sale, so we were happy to get him at five and a quarter. And Lennart Agren of S R F Stable is a partner, and Steve Stewart said, after we bought him, he’d like to stay in for a piece, and we said, ‘Sure.’”

‘MILLION’ CONNECTIONS

Stewart has an unprecedented record when it comes to the Mohawk Million with connections to five of the six winners either as a breeder, horse owner, or slot owner, and in some cases two or all three apply:

• 2020: Co-breeder of Venerate

• 2021: Co-breeder of Venerable

• 2022: Slot owner of Oh Well

• 2023: No connection to winner T C I, but co-bred third-place finisher Allegiant

• 2024: Co-breeder and co-owner of Maryland

• 2025: Co-breeder, co-owner, and slot owner of Apex

When you consider Hunterton Farm owners Stewart and his wife Cindy are predominantly breeders which own small pieces of only five or six horses, their Mohawk Million success is extraordinary.

“It’s not like we have an army out there by any stretch of the imagination,” Steve said. “So, we’re very, very lucky. And that’s kind of how we like it. We like the fact that we’re sellers, and we just got lucky last year [at the sale] with Apex. We loved the horse. He was always a special horse growing up.”

Steve said he remembers Snyder asking him what he thought of Apex before he sold and then speaking with him afterwards.

“He goes, ‘$525,000 I thought I was going to have to go to $700,000,’” Steve said. “And I’m like, ‘Well, I wish you would have [spent more] for my partners,’ but it would have had no effect on us if we were able to stay in and he said, ‘Sure.’

“To me, it’s the most fun when you have partners and Jeff is such a great guy, and I think they really like Cindy and I being partners with them as the breeders, so it’s just a lot of fun. Over and above the accolades and the success, it’s just a lot of fun to have them as partners, the same as it is with Anders Strom and Maryland. You know, to me, partners are what it’s all about in life.

“I would not want to be standing in the winner’s circle by myself. I just don’t think that would be nearly as much fun. It’s kind of like having a boat, and no one ever gets on the boat with you and enjoys the boat. I mean, the fun part is your friends and enjoying it together.”

THE NAME GAME

The Stewarts usually name their foals when they’re weanlings. When it came to naming the fifth foal out of Mission Brief and second by Walner, Cindy was, in a way, phoning it in.

Steve and Cindy read a lot of biographies about history and former presidents, including ones by Ron Chernow, who wrote the book that Hamilton the musical is based on.

“And I asked Cindy, ‘How did we come up with Apex? Was it from one of the books?’” Steve said. “And she said, ‘No.’”

Steve said that Cindy was checking a thesaurus on her phone for one-word synonyms for the best or the top, because the foal was by Walner out of Mission Brief.

“And she got all these words that mean the top, the best, and Apex was one of them,” he said. “That is how she used her phone to come up with the name.”

In December of last year, Steve was reading an article that he took to be a positive for the choosing of the name Apex.

“I had texted those guys, the two partners [Snyder and Agren], in I want to say December, way before we knew [Apex] was any good,” Steve said. “There was a dinosaur named Apex, and it was the most expensive dinosaur ever sold… This dinosaur was sold for $44 million or something insane… and I said look here, maybe this is a good omen.”

LATE DECISION PAYS OFF

According to both Snyder and Steve, the choice to drop Apex into the Mohawk Million was not made until the Sunday afternoon (Sept. 14) prior to the race.

“Steve was waiting for us to decide,” Snyder said. “We weren’t exactly sure that we wanted to race in the Mohawk Million, because he had three starts in a row. So, we weren’t sure whether we wanted to race him four weeks in a row. So, he came out of the last race well, the Peter Haughton, and Dexter Dunn said he just did it easily down in Indiana, so we decided to go forward and it turned out good. It turned out great, I should say.”

Waiting on that Sunday decision was a little stressful for Steve, because it was his slot that Apex used for the Million and they had to enter on Monday morning.

“So, it’s 26 hours away from having to declare what horse we’re going to put in, so I texted them, and I said, ‘Well, whenever you all know something, let me know.’” Steve said. “So, 11 o’clock comes, nothing; 12 o’clock comes, nothing; 1 o’clock comes, nothing; 2 o’clock comes, nothing; 3 o’clock comes, nothing. Finally, at like, 3:30 in the afternoon, I’m thinking, they’re not going to do it. But luckily, Marcus called me, like, at 4:30 and said, ‘Yeah, I talked to Dexter, everything’s fine.’

“If they said no, now I’ve got 15 hours to come up with a horse, and that ain’t easy… So, I always tell people, it’s not for the faint of heart, because a lot of those people sold their slots, like a couple of weeks before to get out from under to having to worry about finding a horse.”

No one can blame the connections of Apex for wanting to make good decisions regarding their talented colt who sports a record of 6-1-1 in eight starts and earnings of $821,575.

“Well, from day one, Marcus was raving about this horse,” Snyder said. “And he said all along, he’s in a class by himself. Even the first few days after we bought him at Harrisburg, he was ecstatic about him. And he stayed that way right through the year and he’s proven to be right. He just is a very special horse. To me, I think he’s the best 2-year-old I’ve seen, 2-year-old trotting colt.

“We’ll probably just go straight to the Breeders Crown. He’s not going to race in Kentucky the next two weeks, the Bluegrass and the International Stallion. And he gets a bye for the Breeders Crown; he doesn’t have to go to the eliminations for the Breeders Crown [because he won the Peter Haughton].

“The good thing is he’s guaranteed to get an inside post, between 1 and 6. He’s probably going to qualify maybe once or twice before and go right into the Breeders Crown.”

For Steve and the staff at Hunterton Farm, Apex getting some time off means he’ll be at Melander’s farm in Kentucky, where they can go visit him.

“We always thought that he was special, and it is nice when that happens, and it doesn’t always happen, obviously,” Steve said. “I always tell people, the greatest thing in our business is two plus two doesn’t equal four, and if it does all the time, then the feeling goes away a little bit, you know, I mean, you kind of bought the winner’s circle.

“He was one of the favorites at the farm… all the guys are all going to go see him, the people that prepped him, all are going to get to go see him, maybe this week, and that’s fun, you know?”

Snyder said he currently only has seven or eight horses in training, all of which are with Melander, and include the aforementioned Aetos Kronos S, Super Chapter, and Date Night Hanover.

“We’ve had a lot of luck with Marcus Melander, and we hope it continues,” Snyder said, adding with a laugh, “I remember Bill Peretti used to say, ‘It’s like playing poker, you’ve got to keep on playing.’ I put money in the pot and sooner or later, you get a winning hand.”