Through most of the summer of his four-year-old year, Breeders Crown champion Arch Madness has been getting a good view of the back end of Corleone Kosmos.
Arch Madness has been second to his rival no fewer than four times this season -- in the Titan Cup, Classic Series finale and the Breeders Crown Open Trot at Mohawk Racetrack. The most recent occasion was in the $50,000 elimination for this Saturday's $728,600 Maple Leaf Trot.
Now, the two are scheduled to leave from Posts 3 and 4 in the final in the MLT, carded as Race 7, which carries an estimated post time of 9:36 p.m.
"We've had a little tough luck with posts this year. He's gone some really good miles and still ended up second," trainer Trond Smedshammer said of Arch Madness, who drew the nine-hole in both the Nat Ray and Breeders Crown, and Post 8 in the Classic Series finale.
"Last week when he was second in the Maple Leaf Trot elim, I wasn't too worried because it was a nasty night and he did the best he could in the rain and the mud.
"I'm really not disappointed in the year he has had."
The gelded son of Balanced Image had a reputation for being difficult when he was a youngster, but Smedshammer says his manners have improved considerably at four. On Saturday night, neither his manners nor his post position should hold him back.
"We got a good post for once," Smedshammer said. "Before the draw I said I might have to go for a walk, because if I get a bad post again I might have to punch someone. But I drew his post myself in the end, and we got the four, with Corleone Kosmos on our inside in the three hole. It's a perfect spot for him, and with the weather being better this weekend we should have a shot."
While Smedshammer braved the storm himself last week in the elim, he has called on Brian Sears to be in the bike in the final. "We haven't really set out a strategy," Smedshammer said. "I'll leave it up to him [Sears]."
Corleone Kosmos is listed as the even-money favourite going into the Maple Leaf Trot and Arch Madness is close behind at 2-1. Fellow elim winner Armbro Chronicle, who will start from Post 2, will open at double digit 25-1 odds.
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(With files from WEG)