Muscle Hill, Southern Rocketop to duel in American-National
August 25, 2009,by Ken Weingartner, Harness Racing Communications
Ken Weingartner Freehold, NJ —
Overall, the 10-horse American-National field includes four of the 14 fastest 3-year-old male trotters this year.
Muscle Hill is coming off a world-record-equaling 1:50.1 mile in the $1.5 million Hambletonian on August 8 at the Meadowlands Racetrack. The colt, trained by Greg Peck and driven by Brian Sears, is 5-for-5 this season and brings a 13-race win streak to Balmoral Park. Muscle Hill’s only setback was a second-place finish in his career debut. He has earned $1.8 million in his career and was the Dan Patch Award winner as the sport’s best 2-year-old male trotter in 2008.
Southern Rocketop is coming off a 1:54.4 win over a good track at Springfield in the Illinois State Fair Championship. There, the gelding won by 1-1/4 lengths over Dr McDreamy, another American-National contender.
Balmoral Park photo
Southern Rocketop has won 16 of 24 career starts with earnings of nearly $300,000.
Trained by Robert Taylor and driven by Dave Magee, Southern Rocketop is a track record holder at Balmoral Park (1:52.2). He has won seven of 10 races this year and 16 of 24 in his career, with earnings of $288,911.
Muscle Hill and Southern Rocketop both set world records as 2-year-olds.
“It will be exciting, I hope,” Taylor said. “(Southern Rocketop) is coming around real nice. Hopefully, he’ll be on his ‘A’ game for Saturday. A lot of people have been asking me about a showdown, but our main concern is that our horse races good for us. Just to be able to race against a caliber of horse such as Muscle Hill is a thrill.”
Southern Rocketop will start from post No. 1 in the American-National while Muscle Hill will begin from post five. Southern Rocketop has made 12 career starts at Balmoral, winning 10 and finishing second once. He has raced outside of Illinois only twice, for the eliminations and final of the Goodtimes at Mohawk Racetrack in Ontario. He finished fourth in the final, but was only three-quarters of a length behind winner Federal Flex.
“Since we do stable here (at Balmoral) maybe it will give him a little advantage for our race,” Taylor said. “I don’t know. I hope so.”
Southern Rocketop, owned by Tennessee’s Claude Powers, was coming off consecutive second-place finishes to Dr McDreamy prior to winning the State Fair Championship.
“We were dealing with a little sickness issue, but he’s been pretty good all year,” Taylor said. “He’s a real nice horse to be around. He’s got a nice personality and takes care of himself real well. He’s all business when he hits the track. Hopefully everything goes for us and the horse stays sound and healthy.”
Following is the American-National field in post position order, with listed drivers and trainers: 1. Southern Rocketop, Dave Magee, Robert Taylor; 2. Cruisealong, Peter Wrenn, Ron Gurfein; 3. Dashing Earl, Dave Magee, Rich Gillock; 4. Dr McDreamy, Homer Hochstetler, Hochstetler; 5. Muscle Hill, Brian Sears, Greg Peck; 6. The Chancellor, Brandon Simpson, Julie Miller; 7. Winning Mister, TBA, Rich Gillock; 8. Magic Carpet Ride, Peter Wrenn, Dewayne Minor; 9. Mr Cantab, Marcus Miller, Erv Miller; 10. Southwind Tagar, Dale Hiteman, Homer Hochstetler.
Owners: 1. Powers Farms; 2. Brittany Farms, Jerry Silva, Jay Novak, Mathias Meinzinger; 3. Robert Key; 4. Connie Hochstetler, Bruce Alexander, Dean Alexander; 5. Jerry Silva, TLP Stable, Southwind Farm, Muscle Hill Racing; 6. Andy Miller Stable, Arden Homestead Stable; 7. Robert Key; 8. Cowboyland Aalborg; 9. Brittany Farms, John Carver, Ronald Michelon, Riverview Farms; 10. Homer Hochstetler, Richard Keys, Robert Buddig.