2006 Hambletonian Day at the Meadowlands

Brian Sears and Trond Smedshammer may have had a disappointing loss in the Hambletonian with favorite Mr Pine Chip, but they were in the Meadowlands winner’s circle two races later with Sand Vic in the $300,000 Nat Ray on Saturday afternoon. Sears and 3-2 favorite Sand Vic dueled with 7-1 Vivid Photo through a :54.4 half and held off Ripped in the final strides to win be a head in 1:51.3. 42-1 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."

The top three finishers in the Nat Ray receive an invitation to the World Cup Trot Final on August 30 in Russia. The series is comprised of five races in five different countries – Italy, Sweden, France, the United States and Russia. The races at Milan, Jägersro, and Cagnes-sur-Mer 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.

Results chart