Lexington, Ky--Three-year-old colt trotter Cobol, a $290,000 sales yearling, excited his trainer Per Eriksson with his dominating performance Saturday at The Red Mile. Cobol defeated eight other three-year-oids in 2:00 flat for his second straight win this spring.

"Jimmy (Meittinis) drove him perfectly. The time doesn't mean anything. He has to learn to race from behind and are taking advantage of this place (The Red Mile). He is just learning and he doesn't have to trot in 1:56 like he would at The Meadowlands," said Eriksson.

Cobol, who paid $2.60, 2.10, 2.20, got away fifth and was still six lengths back at the half. The Pine Chip colt moved to third at the three-quarters and was only two lengths off the leader at the top of the stretch. Cobol won by 4 1/2 lengths.

"We will keep him in Lexington through the $100,000 Spring Champonship on June 19th," said Eriksson. Then he's headed to the Hambletonian on August 4th at The Meadowlands, added his trainer. Cobol is owned by Jim Wheeler, C.A.Takter and Bill Perretti.

Also, on Saturday, three-year-old Klingon Hanover scored an impressive 1:53.2 victory in his final Red Mile start.... and a total of $163,000 was bet on him to show and produced a near-record Red Mile minus show pool of $36,276.

A total of $166,996 was wagered to show on Saturday's seventh race both in Lexington and at other simulcast locations throughout the country. Patrons at Freehold Raceway in New Jersey wagered $142,456 of the total on Klingon Hanover.

The win by Klingon was his third this spring and he's now headed for the $500,000 Prix de Montreal Pace. The Rosenheim Stable colt, who is one of the leading Triple Crown contenders, is trained by Peter Blood and was driven again by Michael Stevenson. The triumph hiked the Presidential Ball sophomore's earnings to $356,071.