by Ellen Harvey, Harness Racing Communications

Freehold, NJ — Last season’s Dan Patch winner in the 2-year-old trotting colt division, Muscle Hill, is on the move again and entered in the second leg of the New Jersey Sire Stakes at the Meadowlands on Thursday evening, June 4.

The winner of eight of nine starts and $817,301 in 2008, including the Breeders Crown and Peter Haughton Memorial, will start from post six in the first of two $54,900 sire stakes divisions, with regular driver Brian Sears aboard. Muscle Hill, the winter book favorite for the $1.5 million Hambletonian, has had two qualifiers and is ready to go, trainer Greg Peck said.

USTA/Ken Weingartner photo

Muscle Hill and trainer Greg Peck will tackle New Jersey Sire Stakes opponents in the colt’s sophomore debut on Thursday.

“He can do anything you want him to do. He drives like a sports car,” Peck said. “What happened in the two qualifiers, the fractions set up such that he moved into the lead at the half and cut his own mile from there. The fractions were starting to slow down and we actually had planned on going in 1:56 or a little better (actually 1:55.4 in the first on May 14) and the second qualifier to go in 1:54 (on May 21) and he went in 1:54.3.”

The Peck Stable will also send out My Back Pages, who won the first leg of the New Jersey Sire Stakes for 3-year-old trotting colts on May 25 in wire-to-wire fashion in 1:54, by 3-3/4 lengths. My Back Pages is in the second of the two $54,900 sire stakes divisions on Thursday.

“Both of them will probably go off as favorites and the bottom line is this: It’s a horse race and I’m certainly respectful of all of the competition. But the goal, as it is every time I put a horse on the track, is to win. That’s for sure,” said Peck, who trains Muscle Hill for Jerry Silva, TLP Stable, Southwind Farm and Muscle Hill Racing LLC.

Peck has made no equipment changes on Muscle Hill this year.

“He’s wearing the exact same equipment as last year,” Peck said. “He wears a Kant See Back, actually they both wear Kant See Back bridles. It’s a cross between an open and a blind bridle and I like the Kant See Back bridle. It’s a personal thing, but it seems to work on both of them. On one hand, it wakes them up. On the other hand, it seems to make them a little more controllable. They have to be manageable. Both of them have a kind mouth; they’re very responsive and maneuverable.”