Vivid Wise As in great shape again
by Thomas Hedlund
Alessandro Gocciadoro’s Yankee Glide son Vivid Wise As was back as a winner when the $205,000 Prix de l’Atlantique was held at Paris track Enghien on Saturday afternoon (April 24).
Alessandro Gocciadoro let Vivid Wise As roll when the car left the field in the 2,150 meters long race, but Prix de Paris winner Etonnant got great speed from the outside and Vivid Wise As could follow the leader until the stretch, where Gocciadoro attacked and got control of the race.
Etonnant fought well in front, but Vivid Wise As seemed to have a lot of power to use and Alessandro Gocciadoro could sit comfortably relaxed in the bike behind his trotter.
Vivid Wise As, who was first choice ahead of Elitloppet 2020, has had a roller coaster season the past year, but for the moment it looks like he’s in shape for another try at Solvalla in May.
The mile rate for winner Vivid Wise As was 1:54.1 over 1.3 miles. Etonnant held strongly as runner up and Delia du Pommereux finished well in third.
Philippe Allaire trained Hatchet Man (Goetmals Wood) was outstanding from the lead in $125,000 Prix Gaston Brunet at Enghien and the 4-year-old won in mile rate 1:57.4 over 1.7 miles for driver David Thomain.
The 4-year-old mares battled in $125,000 Prix Gaston de Wazieres and Jean-Michel Baudoin trained Hirondelle Sibey (Gazouillis) posted her third consecutive win when she sprinted home in mile rate 1:57.3 over 1.7 miles.
World class performance in Halmstad
The third elimination of the Paralympiatravet (final at Åby on May 8) was held in Halmstad, Sweden on Saturday afternoon (April 24) and the show that the fans witnessed must be considered as one of the best this season. Beside all great winners during the French winter meeting, Aetos Kronos’ performance from post 12 over 1.3 miles was something really special.
Driver Magnus Djuse attacked three wide with 1,400 meters to go, just after a short break by Aetos Kronos, but opponent Heart Of Steel and Peter Untersteiner had the same target in sight, position outside leader Handsome Brad. So Aetos Kronos (Bold Eagle) had to work three wide, aiming for the lead at the back stretch as Magnus Djuse passed Heart Of Steel with 600 meters to go. Still, Aetos Kronos was first over and the long speed should have made him, at least morally tired, but the 5-year-old disarmed leader Handsome Brad in the last turn and the chasers were never really close to reach him.
This was a spectacular performance from a very interesting horse owned, in part, by Jeffrey Snyder and family of New York City. Aetos Kronos, trained by Jerry Riordan, had a great year as a 3-year-old and followed that up with a Group 1 win in the $250,000 Kungapokalen last year. Riordan tried his trotter in Paris during the winter and the comeback on Swedish soil couldn’t have been better.
The mile rate for Aetos Kronos was 1:55.4 over 1.3 miles. The Paralympiatravet final is next and a nice performance in that race will most certainly give Aetos Kronos a ticket to Elitloppet. On the other hand, the victory in Halmstad on Saturday afternoon should be enough to show that the son of Bold Eagle is one of the 16 trotters that will race at Solvalla in the end of May this year.
