Tough Muscle stiff-armed his competition in the $22,000 Open Trot on Tuesday (Nov. 22) at Hollywood Gaming at Dayton Raceway.
Driven by Chris Page, 5-2 Tough Muscle left conservatively off the gate. The four-year-old gelded son of Musclesprinctonian got away fourth and sat patiently as the opening quarter came in :26.4. Passed the half in :56, Tough Muscle popped the pocket to challenge the leader. As the field reached the three-quarters pole in 1:24.2, the gelding hit his gear. After pulling away at the top of the stretch, Tough Muscle tripped the wire in 1:53.3 to equal his lifetime mark.
Winning Ticket (Trevor Smith) was second while Lockbox (Tyler Smith) rallied for third.
Trained by Ron Burke, Tough Muscle has banked $113,765 in 2022. The gelding has tallied eight victories in 24 seasonal starts and has hit the board an additional six times. Tough Muscle is owned in partnership by Burke Racing Stable and Weaver Bruscemi.
At conclusion of the 14-race card, leading driver Jeremy Smith added five more wins to his seasonal total. The victories came in race two aboard Crazy Bad K (1:54, $2.60) followed by Paperback Thriller (1:53.1, $3.20) in race three, Tom Da Bomb (1:59.3, $3.80) in race five, Hard Cold Cash (1:54, $3.60) in race nine and Magic Night (1:55.2, $13.80) in race twelve. Brett Miller followed behind with a driving triple.
Live racing will resume Wednesday (Nov. 23) at Dayton Raceway with first post at 4 p.m.
(Ohio Harness Horsemen's Association)