Cool Muscle powers by seven

Cool Muscle erased a 10-length deficit and passed all seven foes in front of him in the back half of the Preferred 2&3 Handicap Trot on Wednesday at Grand River Raceway for his first harness racing win of the season.

He dropped back to seventh of nine for reinsman Scott Coulter, who was on the cusp of a driving grand slam in the final race of the evening. Leader Refi (Jason Ryan) put up a first quarter mile time of :28 and slowed significantly to a :59 half, prompting Cool Muscle and three others to leave the inside.

Refi broke stride while turning for the final backstretch trip, which gave Pollar Hall (Bruce Richardson) the lead. Cool Muscle swung three-wide behind Los Ballykeelamigo (Bob McClure) as the remaining seven horses in contention bunched up at three-quarters in 1:28.2. Los Ballykeelamigo shifted to the two-path on the final turn, allowing Cool Muscle a clear path, which he used to soar by his remaining rivals for his first victory of the season in 1:58.

Los Ballykeelamigo was outkicked by the winner but finished second. Pollar Hall settled for third. The win price was $6.

COOL MUSCLE REPLAY

Jessica Hayter trains and co-owns Cool Muscle with Edward Hayter. Cool Muscle, a seven-year-old Muscle Mass gelding, has won 15 of his 45 career starts and has amassed earnings of $163,817.

Coulter began his grand slam aboard $75.30 winner May To For (1:57.4) in race four and continued with his next two in natural progression; he scored with Gab In Motion (1:58.1) in the fifth and Warrawee Wiz (2:02) in the sixth.

Grand River Raceway continues with its weekday schedule with an 11-race card on Friday, Jul. 23. First post will be at 6:30 p.m. EDT.

For full race results, click here.

by Nicholas Barnsdale, for Harnesslink