Muscle Hill will bring a 14-race win streak to Saturday's $575,000 World Trotting Derby at the Illinois State Fair in DuQuoin as he looks to become the third consecutive Hambletonian winner
, and fourth in five years, to capture the event.
Deweycheatumnhowe won in 2008, Donato Hanover won in 2007 and Vivid Photo won in 2005. Hambletonian runner-up Chocolatier won the 2006 World Trotting Derby.
Last weekend, Muscle Hill returned to the races for his first start since the $1.5 million Hambletonian, which he captured August 8 at the Meadowlands Racetrack. On Saturday, he won the $200,000 American-National Stakes for three-year-old trotters in a stakes and track record clocking of 1:52.3 at Balmoral Park.
"He knows when it's time to go and he means business when it's time to go," said driver Brian Sears, who positioned Muscle Hill in fifth place through the opening half of the race and closed with a :55.2 half-mile surge. "It looked like there was some early speed so I just bided my time. It worked out pretty good. I had to move three deep earlier than I wanted, but I knew I had plenty of trot to get where I needed to go. He's definitely a professional. He knows what it's all about."
Muscle Hill, the No. 1-ranked harness racing horse in the sport's Top 10 poll, is 6-for-6 this year with earnings of $1.1 million. He has won 14 of 15 lifetime starts and $1.9 million. His career resume includes the 2008 Breeders Crown and Peter Haughton, a division of the 2009 Stanley Dancer Memorial and two New Jersey Sire Stakes championships.
In the Hambletonian, Muscle Hill equaled the World Record of 1:50.1. He has won his last four races in 1:52.3 or faster.
The stakes record for the World Trotting Derby is 1:50.2, which was established by Tom Ridge in 2004. At the time, it was the fastest trotting mile in history.
"It's still a horse race," trainer Greg Peck said. "The primary objective is to win. If the speed record happens to be there, that's an added bonus. That's the icing on the cake."
Eliminations for the $1 million Canadian Trotting Classic at Mohawk Racetrack, which would be the next stop for Muscle Hill following the World Trotting Derby, are September 12. The final is September 19.
(Harness Racing Communications)