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Sand Vic held off the late challenge of 10-1 shot Vivid Photo for a neck victory in the $800,000 Breeders Crown Open Trot, the richest race on Saturday night at the Meadowlands. 3-1 second choice Corleone Kosmos was third by 2 1/4 lengths. 3-5 favorite Sand Vic trotted the mile in 1:52 3/5, providing driver Brian Sears with the sixth of his seven wins on the night.

"I saw that Corleone Kosmos was second over, so as soon as I saw him at three deep I gave my horse his head a little bit to try to get away from him," said Sears, who posted his seventh Breeders Crown victory, second of the night.


"Vivid Photo was on my back so it was far from over. He got a good trip and was really bearing down on me right at the wire but we had enough to hold on. Sand Vic is a professional horse. He knows what you want to do with him and he lets you do it. He's just a pleasure to race." The Trond Smedshammer trainee, owned by August Frederick Miedel of Pompano Beach, Florida, now has 16 wins, 13 seconds and eight thirds in 51 career starts. The winner of the Cutler Memorial and Titan Cup picked up his fifth win with two seconds in eight starts this year. The winner's share pushed his lifetime bankroll to $1,384,822.

"He was always a good horse," Smedshammer noted. "He just put it all together this year. When a horse starts winning, it's the best thing for him. They get braver and braver. We just raced the horse carefully last week to prep him, made a couple of changes, put aluminum on for the first time and I knew he was going to be good today. Brian drove him like he was the best, and he was the best.

He'll probably be in the Nat Ray next week. I think he'll come back next year, he's a sound horse. He's a fresh horse, so he should be able to race another year."

Back to the Open Pace
On to the Mare Pace
On to the MareTrot