Dan Patch Award winner Muscle Hill, a leading eligible for the 2009 Hambletonian, will make his three-year-old debut Thursday, June 4 in New Jersey Sire Stakes
competition at the Meadowlands.
The son of Muscles Yankee will face Anders Bluestone, a son of Yankee Glide which is undefeated in three lifetime starts, including a victory in the $181,369 Dexter Cup at Freehold Raceway last month.
Muscle Hill, who earned $817,301 in purse money last year, won eight of nine starts, including victories in the $700,000 Breeders Crown in a World Record 1:53.3, $500,000 Peter Haughton Memorial and $175,000 NJSS Championship at the Meadowlands and the Bluegrass and International Stallion Stakes at Lexington.
Brian Sears is listed to drive Muscle Hill in Race 5, one of two $54,900 races in the NJSS premier division that will conclude with a $200,000 championship final at the Meadowlands on June 13. Greg Peck trains the colt for co-owners Jerry Silva, TLP Stable, Southwind Farm and Muscle Hill Racing.
In addition to Anders Bluestone, the nine-horse field will include two trotters that finished second last week in the first round of NJSS competition for sophomore trotting colts and geldings, American Journey and The Chancellor.
The other $54,900 NJSS premier division contest will include My Back Pages, winner of a first leg of the series last week.
There will be three NJSS premier division contests Wednesday night (June 3) at the Meadowlands for three-year-old NJ-sired trotting fillies. Two winners from the first leg of the series, Seaside and Gabbys Dream, will be competing in one of two $38,400 contests with nine-horse fields. I Wanted Wings, the NJSS two-year-old trotting filly of 2008, heads the field in the other $38,400 race after finishing second last week to Seaside. A third group of eight fillies will race for $37,800.
(With files from NJSS)