Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

Sand Vic Captureds $300,000 Nat Ray Final

Saturday, August 5, 2006

Sand Vic captured the $300,000 Nat Ray on Saturday afternoon at The Meadowlands. Sears and Sand Vic dueled with Vivid Photo through a :54.4 half and held off Ripped in the final strides to win be a head in 1:51.3, in the afternoon’s 10th race. Smooth Muscles flew from sixth at the top of the stretch to finish third.

“I felt like he was the best horse in the race,” Sears said. “It was kind of a crapshoot out of the gate. There were a lot of horses leaving, they were three-deep going in through the quarter and I just wanted to be the last one in front. [Vivid Photo] raced a real game mile coming first up at me like that, but my horse raced very well, also.”

In addition to the Nat Ray, Sand Vic counts the Breeders Crown, Titan Cup and Arthur J. Cutler among his nine victories this year for trainer Smedshammer and owner August Miedel of Pompano Beach, Florida. The $300,000 Nat Ray was part of the rich undercard surrounding the $1.5 million Hambletonian on Saturday afternoon at the Meadowlands. The top three finishers in the Nat Ray receive an invitation to the World Cup Trot Final on August 30 in Russia. This is the first year the Nat Ray, the richest of the four preliminary legs of the series, has been included in the World Cup Trot, which is now in its 12th year.

The series is comprised of five races in five different countries – Italy, Sweden, France, the United States and Russia. The races at Milan [Gran Premio U.N.I.R.E.], Jägersro [Hugo Abergs Memorial] and Cagnes-sur-Mer [Prix du Conseil Minicipale des Alpes Maritimes] are eliminations for a 300,000 Euro final at the Kazan track in Russia on August 30. Nine horses gaining the most points in those three races, along with the top three in the Nat Ray, and two horses from Russia advance to the final.