At about 10am near Jersey Shore Schnittker, who was driving from his farm in Goshen, hit an icey patch on the road and crashed into a second vehicle causing it to crash. Their truck and trailer was dragged 30 metres upside down before landing in a ditch.

"It was pretty freaky alright. We found poor Dewey unpside down lying on the ceiling of the trailer. Amazingly he only suffered one small cut in his hind leg. When it was happening I was praying that there was no cliff. That was my biggest concern. I can tell you I was pretty happy when we came to a standstill," Schnittker said exclusively to Harnesslink.com this morning.

Schnittker's wife sufferered a dislocated shoulder but was released from a local hospital soon after. They were en route to Kentucky's Walnut Hall Stud where the winner of 22 of his 25 starts and $3,177,122 in stakes, will stand at sud.

"It was his final road trip before being retired to stud. My wife was in the back and got roughed up a bit. My seat belt saved my life," Schnittker said.

"We are all fine now. To be honest I'm relaxing with a beer now. We will continue the journey in a new vehicle tomorrow," Schnittker said.

Following the accident, the champion son of Muscles Yankee was taken to Vieux Carre Farm in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where he was examined by Dr. John Egloff and pronounced healthy.

"The doctor said it was a miracle we all survived, especially the horse. We are all fine now. My wife is already on her way home to Goshen," Schnittker said.

Schnittker, trainer of multiple stakes winner Deweycheatumnhowe, was recently voted the winner of USHWA's Glen Garnsey Trainer of the Year and W.R. Haughton Good Guy Award.

He opened his campaign with 'Dewey' on June 5 at the Meadowlands Racetrack and steered the star trotter to high-end stakes victories in the Stanley Dancer, Hambletonian, Canadian Trotting Classic, Bluegrass and Kentucky Futurity.

Shame the champion trotter's career had to end on a sour note.

Duane RANGER (editor)