News and Events

Numa Snyder is Pennsylvania's ultimate racing fan

Numa Snyder grew up with a passion for two things-music and horses. Though he has never owned a horse, Snyder's lifelong fascination with and love of harness racing transformed into a dedication that has been rivaled only by his musical talents.

Born in Lehighton, Pa., in 1920, Snyder was first introduced to harness racing when his father took him to the local county fair.

"I remember my dad holding my hand as we watched the races at the Lehighton fairgrounds, and I can still hear him saying-as a field of trotters came off the turn-'Gol'darn, ain't they pretty!'" Snyder recalled with enthusiasm.

Snyder never forgot those summer days he spent at the fairs with his father, even as he grew up, studied classical violin and piano, and obtained a Master's degree in music from Penn State University. During his college days, he'd often sneak out in between classes to run to the nearest half-mile fair oval.

"My dad wasn't a trained musician, but he played the violin a little bit when I was a kid, so it seemed natural for me to pick it up and pursue it," Snyder said. "I was 8 years old when I started taking lessons. The more I played it, the more I liked it."

Even after he married and had two sons, began serving as first-chair violinist for the Allentown and Scranton, Pa., symphonies, and was teaching music at the local schools, his passion for harness racing never waned. In the summers, while he was playing piano at Pocono resort towns, his thoughts often turned to the local trot races.

"I would go to the fair just to see the harness racing. I just always enjoyed it so much," Snyder said. "There seems to be such a discipline to the harness racing sport that you don't find with the galloping horses. Harness horses are trained to trot or pace, not just to gallop. The beauty of the discipline-the swaying motion of the pacer-is what is especially beautiful to me. I just admire the ability of the horse to do that, and I also admire the ability of the person who trains the horse to do that."

Typically, Snyder could be found sitting in the grandstand of a dusty Pennsylvania fairground oval on a humid summer day, pen and notebook in hand. Many horsemen assumed Snyder was there covering the races for a local newspaper.

But Snyder wasn't working for any news outlet. Instead, between teaching and performing classical music, he was charting the races and compiling trainer, driver and horse statistics in a detailed fashion that would rival any well-trained raceway program director. He was doing this years before the USTA began compiling these statistics.

Ralph Jones, former deputy executive secretary for the Pennsylvania Harness Racing Commission, first spotted Snyder at the Lycoming County Fair in the mid-1970s.

"Nobody seemed to know who this guy was or what he was doing," Jones recalled. "We first thought he was a reporter, because he would sit up in the grandstands at all of these fairs and take notes. Finally, my curiosity got the best of me and I went up and talked to him."

Jones struck up a friendship with Snyder that continues today.

"Next thing I know, I'm going to dinner with Ralph and his wife Ginger, and we're talking and talking and talking about racing," Snyder said. "We talked nonstop about harness racing, and we still do. I think Ralph would be interested in anyone who was interested in harness racing-he's just that passionate about the sport."

Snyder soon turned his attention to the barn area, becoming friends with owners, drivers and trainers. He couldn't get enough information and inquired of all he met-from caretakers to the photo finish people.

"Numa struck up a lot of good friendships all over the backsides of these tracks, and everybody knows who he is now," Jones said. "He's really well liked, and is part of the harness racing family in Pennsylvania."

"The people I met who were involved in harness racing-the owners, trainers and drivers-were more than gracious in helping me to learn about the sport," Snyder added. "After the fairs began printing the lines of the horses in their programs, I really didn't need to keep my own stats anymore. Everything I wanted was already in the program. When I'd go to the races, I'd focus on a particular horse, instead of watching all of the horses in a particular race. I enjoy studying one horse throughout a race.

"I feel like I know enough about the races to really enjoy them, even though they're much different today than they were years ago. I was around when the horses would go three heats, and often times, they'd have three, four or even five recalls for the horses to start together. There were no starting gates in those days, and it was up to the starter to get them all lined up properly."

The 87-year-old Snyder still visits a limited number of fairs each summer, including Gratz, Bloomsburg and Honesdale.

"I'm not as mobile as I used to be, so I tend to stick closer to home now," Snyder said with a chuckle. "I haven't lost interest in racing, and I still enjoy visiting with all of the horse people, and they seem to still enjoy seeing me."

Now retired from teaching and performing, Snyder hosts his own radio show, live from Stroudsburg, every Sunday from noon until 7 p.m. on WESS. His program consists of two segments-the first three hours is dedicated to big band nostalgia, and is entitled "Down Memory Lane." The second segment, "Concert and Classical," offers listeners four hours of classical compositions.

"I had the advantage of playing with adults performers when I was a kid," Snyder said. "I had a lot of opportunities that other kids didn't have back in those days. Radio was a big deal back then, and musicians were highly regarded. Listening to the radio was just part of what we did-it was our life.

"I went to college to study music, but I really wanted to have my own big band. There came a time when I had to make a decision whether to teach or be a musician, and I decided to teach. Having my own radio program now, where I can introduce people to various kinds of music, kind of takes me back to those earlier days."

Though Snyder's passion for music and his radio program are evident in his voice, his focus soon returns to harness racing once again.

"There were certain drivers over the years that I just loved to watch," Snyder said. "Guys such as Roger Hammer-who's very aggressive-he's an interesting study. Sam Beegle drove to win, but he also took care of the horse, and wasn't really hard on one.

"I especially like horses that come from behind, as opposed to horses that lead all the way around. It makes for a much more interesting race."

And still, after a life that has been as rich and full as Snyder's, there's one quote that comes to mind as he watches a field of trotters turn for home at Bloomsburg:

"Gol' darn, ain't they pretty!"