by Ellen Harvey, Harness Racing Communications

Freehold, NJ — What a difference a year makes. This time last year, trainer Greg Peck was the subject of media attention and scrutiny as his charge, Muscle Hill, was trotting into the Hambletonian as the favorite on a long unbeaten streak. This year? Not so much.

Holiday Road, from the Peck Stable, advanced to the Hambletonian by virtue of his third-place finish in his elimination race last Saturday night. It was the first loss in three starts this year, but Peck has confidence in his horse.

“He came out of the race terrific,” Peck said. “He looks great, he feels good and I’m going to have fun this year. Last year, it was my race to lose; this year, it’s my race to win. That’s the difference, with the heavy favorite last year, the pressure is off this year.”

Peck thinks his horse should be afforded serious consideration.

“I think if you look at the race, I would say that Lucky Chucky is the favorite, but he’s (Holiday Road) beaten Lucky Chucky three out of four times,” Peck noted. “He beat Pilgrims Taj both times he’s raced against him. He beat Muscle Massive when he raced against him. The only one he hasn’t raced against is Cassis, among the favorites.

Lisa photo

Holiday Road heads into Saturday’s Hambletonian with $426,200 in lifetime earnings.

“My father was right about something, you can beat them nine times, but you have to put these things into perspective. Take the loss but look at the big picture with quiet confidence. Then realize that where you want to come up big is in the final — that’s what matters. The other thing that gives me confidence is that he got tired the other night. He hadn’t really been battle tested this year, so that should be a good thing. I’ve seen them do that — get tired and then they come back stronger the next week.

“I think the public will make Holiday Road first or second choice because the savvy handicapper will look and see the front end (Holiday Road held the lead almost until the end) did not hold up the other night at all. He just got out-trotted in :27 and a piece coming home. If he hadn’t had to hold his position coming out of the gate it would have been better. But things happen for a reason and it’s a good thing we know that now. Maybe the issue is that you can’t race him like he’s dominant, you have to look for a trip, like the rest of them, really. If you look at the eliminations, it came down to the trip. Lucky Chucky came first over, but first over into a slow middle half is not a bad trip.”

Peck thinks there are about five horses that will get most of the betting money.

“I would say that you have to make a case for the elimination winners because they won and maybe Muscle Massive and Holiday Road; that’s where the money will go,” he said. “He’ll just have a normal training week. What you want to do is not dramatically change things. Look at it this way: You need a handy horse in races like this. Aside from equipment, the fact that he left in :27 and came home in :27, I don’t see a reason to make a lot of changes. The only thing I might do is change bridles, go from a blind to a Kant See Back bridle and that will be it.”