Earlier this morning, the winter book favourite for this year’s Hambletonian made his first qualifying appearance of the season for trainer Greg Peck
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That horse would be none other than Muscle Hill, who finished off a brilliant rookie campaign with a 1:53.3 victory in the $700,000 final of the Breeders Crown at The Meadowlands.
In this morning’s qualifying assignment, the three-year-old son of Muscles Yankee sat third to the quarter pole before brushing to the top for Brian Sears and laying down middle panels of :58.1 and 1:27.1 before kicking home in :28.3 en route to a 1:55.4 victory.
Mister Big turned in his fourth qualifying effort of the season, and it was winning one in a time of 1:52 for trainer Virgil Morgan, Jr. and driver Brian Sears. The six-year-old son of Grinfromeartoear appears to be primed and ready to add to his $3.3 million bankroll.
A trio of Pepsi North America Cup Eligibles finished 1-2-3 in the tenth qualifier of the morning, with Mysticism coming out on top in 1:54.2 for driver Tim Tetrick. That son of Dragon Again edged out fellow Glamour Boys – Fireintheshark and Mclaren.
The eleventh qualifier was also loaded with a number of sophomore stars. In fact, the top four finishers are eligible to the Pepsi North America Cup.
Dial Or Nodial went wire-to-wire in 1:52.3 with a final quarter clocked in :26.4 for driver Tim Tetrick and trainer Jim Campbell. The son of Western Ideal, who was making his second appearance of the season, won by a length over last year’s Breeders Crown winner Well Said. Panmunjom was third and Precious Medal rounded out the top four.
Lavec Dream, the winner of the 2007 Armbro Flight Invitational, kicked off this morning’s qualifying session with a 1:55.2 victory over Windsong Espoir, who now hangs his harness bag in the barn of trainer Trond Smedshammer. That son of Kadabra was voted Canada’s Two-Year-Old Trotting Colt of the Year in 2007. This morning’s prep was his first charted line of the season.
To view Thursday’s results, click here.