Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

Sand Vic Wins $175,000 Cutler Memorial

Sand Vic & Brian Sears win the Cutler

May 20, 2006

Sand Vic was an easy winner in the $175,000 Arthur J. Cutler Memorial Saturday night at the Meadowlands. Sand Vic and driver Brian Sears in the sulky, took the lead from 4-5 favorite Vivid Photo with an eighth of a mile to go and drew off to a two-length victory in a lifetime best of 1:53 for the mile. Hellava Hush, with Cat Manzi, was second for the third straight week.

It was the first win for Sand Vic, a five-year-old son of Mr Vic, since July 3, 2004. He finished second to eventual Trotter of the Year Mr Muscleman in the 2005 edition of the Cutler. Sand Vic now has 12 wins, 13 seconds and eight thirds from 46 career starts and earnings of $844.822.

"I was pleased with the way the horse raced last week and felt confident in the horse," said Sears, who drove the Trond Smedshammer trainee for owner August Miedel of Pompano Beach, Florida. "He came into it perfectly. When they started racing around the last turn, my horse felt so good I felt confident."

"He's much more mentally ready to face the best in the country," Smedshammer said of Sand Vic. "He had a good season and made almost $500,000 [in 2005]. He came off a mediocre three-year-old season. He lacked the confidence, and he wasn't mentally ready to face the best ones. I told everybody all spring and all winter this horse was a different horse, and told Brian [Sears] for the last couple of weeks not to worry about those races because I think he's got a chance to be the best in the class. That's how much I think of this horse. That's how much better he is this year than last."

Also starting, in finish order, were Hez Striking, Mystical Sunshine, Self Professed, Musclesextrodinair, Great George Two, Elegant Man and New York Yank.

$175,000 Cutler Memorial The Meadowlands Results Saturday, May 20, 2006
Horse Driver
3 Sand Vic Brian Sears
9 Hellava Hush Cat Manzi
1 Vivid Photo Roger Hammer
2 Hez Striking Ron Pierce
6 Mystical Sunshine David Miller
8 Self Professed Mike Lachance
4 Musclesextrodinair Ge Brennan
7 Great George Two Jon Roberts
10 Elegant Man George Brennan
5 New York Yank T. Smedshammer
:27.3 :56.3 1:25.2 1:53