Bermudian owners Joseph Vieira and Arnold Manders picked up a huge pot after their horse won a big race in Indiana.

Swiss Lights earned the biggest payday of his burgeoning career when winning the first leg of the Indiana Sire Stakes, for two-year-old pacing colts, at Harrah’s Hoosier Park last week.

The highly-touted Standardbred came from behind down the home stretch to win the second division race as the 2-1 second choice with driver and trainer Ricky Macomber Jr at the helm to earn $33,250 in prize money.

Swiss Lights pipped 4-5 favourite JK The Great, driven by Marcus Miller, in an exciting finish at the wire by half a length in 1:52.4.

“He just followed him and kicked him at the end,” Manders told The Royal Gazette.

“He should’ve been the favourite but that is determined by the betting public and was fine with me.”

The young horse has made a flying start to his racing career, with the gelded son of Rockin Image and Shes Lights Out remaining unbeaten in his first two races after also leading the field across the line on his debut to claim the $4,750 winner’s purse.

Swiss Lights simply obliterated the field in the qualifying heats.

“He just blew the field away by seven, eight or nine lengths. He did the same thing in his first race but then you are up against tougher competition when you get to the Sire Stakes,” Manders said.

Swiss Lights is also trained by Bermudian Kiwon Waldron, who is employed by Macomber and competes as a professional driver in Indiana, where he has multiple victories under his belt.

Vieira and Manders own 50 per cent of Swiss Lights along with Florida's Doug Overhiser, with the horse now regarded among the top two-year olds in Indiana costing $37,500 at the Hoosier Classic Sale.

“I think Swiss Lights can race from the front and from the back of the pack. He has a great kick coming from behind and if he leads from the front it’s hard to keep up with him,” Manders said.

“I think we have the tools but you never know until it’s put into place out on the track just like cricket or football. You can train as hard as you want but if you don’t feel good then you can’t handle the pressure.”

Waldron recommended Manders and Vieira take over majority ownership of the horse when the opportunity arose.

“I do a lot of studying about the pedigrees and all that. I looked at him a lot and really liked him, but I didn’t think it would come under the price I could afford, so I never bothered with it,” Manders said.

“But then he ended up where Kiwon was and he called and said the horse I was looking for is down here. He said the guy is looking for somebody 50 per cent and I said me and Joe would take it, and was really ecstatic about it because I know he comes from a good pedigree.”

Swiss Light is a relative of Somebeachsomewhere, regarded as the greatest racing horse and sire of all time, who tied the world record for a mile as a three-year-old and achieved the highest earnings by a pacer in a single season of $2,448,003 in 2008.