Who We are
Jessica Schroeder
Jessica has been involved as an owner of Standardbred racehorses since 1993. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, she moved to Lexington, KY to work at Thoroughbred Times magazine. She then worked for the Pete Foley Stable, racing horses on the Grand Circuit from their base at Mohegan Sun Pocono in Wilkes-Barre, PA. In 2008, she started working for the United States Trotting Association, the breed registry for the Standardbred horse and the record keeping entity for harness racing.
Hugh "Sandy" Beatty
Sandy first joined the USTA in 1973 and has been a trainer/driver since 1977. He has 1,829 wins as a driver and earnings of over $10.5-million. As a trainer, he has 834 wins with $6.9-million in earnings. Sandy prefers to drive the horses he trains, both at the county fair and pari-mutuel level.
Ryan Miller
Ryan first became a member of the USTA in 2007 but did not start training full time on his own until 2015. Prior to that he was studying at SUNY-Morrisville, where he met his wife Stacey, and then worked for Hambletonian winning trainer Ray Schnittker for 6 years in Goshen, NY. Horses he has trained have won 265 times in just over 1,550 starts, with $3.1-million in earnings. Ryan will sometimes drive the young horses he trains when they race at the fairs, but at the pari-mutuel tracks he utilizes catch drivers.
Kyle Ater
Kyle is a resident of Clarksburg, which is about 40 minutes south of Scioto Downs. He was a catch driver for many years, amassing 18,356 starts with 2,175 wins and $15.7-million in earnings. Kyle stopped driving in 2021 but has a small stable of horses in training at the family farm. A very peaceful setting, we send horses there that need more constant turnout and a quieter environment, not the hustle and bustle of a training center or fairgrounds. Horses he trains have won 89 times in 786 starts, with $918,682 in earnings.
Previous Trainers
Below are some trainers we have used in the past but currently do not have horses with.
virgil morgan, jr.
Virgil was instrumental in helping us start the fractional ownership groups as our first trainer. Virgil was inducted into the Ohio Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 2020.
Kris Hinchcliff
Kris has been a member of the USTA since 2003. His is originally from Ohio but spent quite a few years out east working for other trainers. Immediately prior to coming back to Ohio in 2014, he worked for the nation's leading trainer, Ron Burke. Since going out on his own in 2014, Kris has 1,867 training starts with 253 wins and $2.8-million in earnings.
Michael Hitchcock
Mike first became a member of the USTA in 1997. Originally from Maine, he started racing at Northfield Park in December of 2018 and moved to Ohio full time in 2020. He has trained 1,741 winners in 8,462 starts with over $7.3-million in earnings.
dan ater
Dan trained a couple horses for HorsePlay and has been a great friend throughout the years. He was inducted into the Ohio Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 2016. After a long battle with cancer, Dan passed away in May 2021.
Racing data as of September 11, 2023