The two had met in the $1.5 million Hambletonian on August 6, with Vivid Photo emerging as the winner over Classic Photo, who is owned by Bill Wright, Mystical Marker Farm and Jack & Peggy Hood-all of whom were on hand to witness their colt win on their home turf.
Trainer-driver Roger Hammer let Vivid Photo sail away from the gait easily and then battled Garth Vader (Homer Hochstetler) to the :28.2 first quarter. After making the lead, Vivid Photo cruised through fractions of :56.1 and 1:25. It appeared that Hammer and his Hambletonian victor were on their way to another solid effort, but Classic Photo, driven by Andy Miller came charging in late stretch to overtake them in the final strides.
"The fractions were tough enough early on and I wasn't too worried," Miller said. "When I pulled him (Classic Photo) he felt very strong and with each horse that we passed he just got stronger and braver. My horse isn't as big as Vivid Photo, but he's got a bigger gait. You never know if you can make up as much ground as we had to, but my colt was just very strong tonight."
"I put a grab on his (Vivid Photo) shoes for this race and I probably shouldn't have changed him," Hammer said. "It effected his gait a little bit and he started hitting his shins as a result. The track was pretty deep too and that didn't help us."
Just a few yards from the wire Vivid Photo made an uncharacteristic break, but was left up in the placing, as he did not interfere with any other trotter in the field of six.
"Coming to the wire I just turned his head loose and got after him a little bit," Hammer said. "I figured at that point that I didn't have anything to lose. I wanted to be on the front end early in the race. As it was Classic Photo laid back and was able to get to us at the wire."
"This is what racing's all about," co-owner Bill Wright said. "I plan on following this horse's career through his retirement into the breeding shed. I'll keep some interest in him too throughout his stallion career."
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