Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

Sand Vic & Corleone Kosmos Take Titan Cup Elims

June 23, 2006

Sand Vic powered to victory and Corleone Kosmos out sprinted Strong Yankee in a pair of $40,000 eliminations on Friday night to determine the 10 finalists in the $200,000 Titan Cup on July 1 at the Meadowlands.

In the first division, the third race, Sand Vic trotted a 26.4 final quarter and held on for a three-quarter-length victory over Elegant Man in a 1:53 mile. Muscles Marinara held on for third, a length and a half back with Hez Striking [fourth] and Vivid Photo [fifth] advancing to the final.

“I wasn’t too concerned coming up first over on Muscles Marinara,” said driver Brian Sears. “My horse outclasses him a little bit. I didn’t want to use him too early. He came home 26.4, which I was real happy with. He’s on top of his game right now.”

Sand Vic, a seven-year-old by Malabar Man, is owned by August Miedel of Pompano Beach, Florida and trained by Trond Smedshammer. The Cutler Memorial winner now has three wins and two seconds in five starts this year and a lifetime bankroll in excess of $880,000.

Strong Yankee sent off as the 1-5 favorite in the second division, seemed on his way to providing Smedshammer with victories in both elims but finished a length and three-quarters behind Corleone Kosmos. John Campbell position Corleone Kosmos perfectly behind Strong Yankee and out-finished the favorite for his fifth win in seven starts this year. The mile was timed in 1:52.3, a lifetime best for Corleone Kosmos.

“He has a world of ability,” said Campbell. “He’s certainly not as seasoned as some of those other horses, but if he gets a trip, he’s got tremendous speed off of his cover.”

The four-year-old gelded son of SJ’s Photo is trained by Ross Croghan for Arthur Rudolph and the Rudolph Stables of Bohemia, New York, and Bernard Owen of North Woodmere, New York. Sir Perseverance was third by two and a quarter lengths. Rounding out the top five and reaching the final were Mohammed Mali and Self Professed.

“The short field tonight worked to his advantage,” said Croghan. “He’s still a big baby. He has a world of speed, and we’ll take everything we can get. He’s physically ready, but mentally he’s not. It will be up to him. We made a lot of changes for tonight. We took the bridle off that he’s had all his life, took the overcheck off and changed the driving bit to a softer bit.”

The elimination winners had choice of post position for the final. Smedshammer had the first pick and opted for post two for Sand Vic. Croghan selected post three for Corleone Kosmos.