Berks native rising in horse racing
Berks County native owns successful stable; winning horse named for home
Matt Schera’s circuitous journey from aspiring weatherman to one of the most successful thoroughbred owners in the nation is the stuff that dreams – and scripts – are made of.
Through it all, however, the low-key 41-year- old Twin Valley High School graduate has never forgotten where he came from.
Earlier this month, Schera’s old stomping grounds took center stage at historic Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Saratoga, whose meet dates back to 1863, was named as one of the world’s top 10 sports venues of the 20th century by Sports Illustrated.
Berks County, a two-yearold colt owned by Schera that he named as an homage to the place he spent his youth, won his debut race in impressive fashion Aug. 11, besting a high-profile field in a 5.5-furlong maiden special weight turf sprint.
“I have fond memories of where I grew up,” said Schera, who works for hedge fund in Greenwich, Conn., where he lives with his wife Janine and three young daughters Allison, Alexis and Jessica. “My wife will sometimes say, ‘Stop living in Berks County!’ But I can’t help it. I like the area.”
Since buying his first horse just three years ago, Schera has put together a stable that currently includes 67 thoroughbreds in training, five broodmares and two babies.
Heading into Thursday, the $1,820,867 in purse money his horses have earned this year rank 12th out of 22,115 owners in the country, according to equibase.com, the industry’s of-
ficial statistics database.
“My life to this point has been really lucky,” Schera said last week from his home in Greenwich, Conn., where he has been shuttling back and forth from Saratoga since the meet began July 22. “If you would have put odds back then, when
I was growing up, on me being where I’m at now, it would have been the same kind of odds as being struck by lightning. It really was a longshot.” *** Schera’s meteoric rise, both in the business and