Muscle Hill progeny dominate at Alexandra Park

The progeny of champion trotting stallion Muscle Hill were to the fore on Friday night (Oct 7.) harness racing action at Alexandra Park, winning three of the four trotting features for square gaiters on the ten-race programme.

Headlining the trio was the return of the Tony Herlihy-trained Bolt For Brilliance, resuming for the first time since his heroics in the Rowe Cup back in May.

The five-year-old looked an absolute picture and a cracking trial in behind the Kerry Hoggard Memorial | Holmes DG runner up, Hot And Treacherous a fortnight earlier had seen the son of Muscle Hill backed into a $1.25 quote for his resumption.

Safely away from his 30m handicap, Herlihy had the champion trotter sitting patiently at the back of the field with a solid tempo being set up front by a daughter of Muscle Hill in the Nicky Chilcott trained and driven Sacred Mountain.

With just over a lap to go, Herlihy made his move and hooked out from the running line to get outside the wheel of the front runner and apply some pressure.

Negotiating the final bend, Bolt For Brilliance cruised up to Sacred Mountain and when Herlihy pulled the plugs 150m from the line, the Rowe Cup winner switched gears to win going away for a comfortable two-length victory over the Chilcott runner (A Muscle Hill quinella) in a time of 3:26.2 for the 2700m journey.

BOLT FOR BRILLIANCE REPLAY

“He was good, he travelled great all the way and couldn’t be happier with him,” said Herlihy talking to Track Chat’s Jo Stevens post-race.

“I’d like to try and get another race up here if we can. We’d like to take him to Kaikoura so another run up North would be great before heading south,” he added.

It was career victory number 19 for the ‘pride of the north’ from just 41 race day starts taking his career earnings to just shy of $700,000. His closing sectionals of 57.7 and 28.9 suggest he is well on track on his road to the Dominion where he is a joint favourite with reigning New Zealand Horse of the Year, Sundees Son for the Group One Show Day feature.

With no Covid restrictions in place, Herlihy will be no doubt itching to get down South after last year being forced to watch his champion trotter running into a third placing in the Dominion from his lounge in Ardmore.

Earlier in the night, Rain Mist And Muscle picked up a penalty free win in the fourth on the card with junior driver Crystal Hackett doing the driving honours for her parents Bernie Hackett and Michelle Wallis.

It was career win number seven for the Aldebaran Lodge owned daughter of Muscle Hill and it may have been her most impressive to date.

Rain Mist And Muscle produced a sharp sprint to reel in the front runners Aldebaran Flame (Trixton) and Ruby Ridge (Majestic Son), despite being forced to make her run four wide around the final bend.

RAIN MIST AND MUSCLE REPLAY

Not to be outdone by his daughter, Bernie Hackett produced another son of Muscle Hill to win the last on the card with Hill Of Peace running away from his opposition to score rather arrogantly for the Hackett/Wallis combination.

Leaving the running line with a circuit to go in the 2200m affair, Hill Of Peace worked forward to get handier to the tear away leader in Luvsa Cold One (Love You) and Benjamin Butcher.

Hackett sat poised as he rounded the final bend and quickly put the result beyond doubt, careering away to win by an uncontested 3 and a quarter length for win number three at his 26th start.

HILL OF PEACE REPLAY

The winning treble for Muscle Hill continued the closing of the gap between he and champion trotting sire, Majestic Son with the duo locked in a cracking battle for the trotting sire’s premiership with a little under 12 weeks remaining in the season.

Despite having only a quarter of the starters of Majestic Son due to his frozen semen limitations, the champion son of Muscles Yankee is breathing down his neck and $365,000 in stakes behind him in progeny earnings.

With talented sons such as Bolt For Brilliance, Muscle Mountain, Midnight Dash, Five Wise Men and Aardiebythehill all looking to challenge the champion Sundees Son over the spring, the king of New Zealand trotting carries a significant burden for his sire in holding onto the trotting stallion crown.

Even so, it may be a bridge too far given the smaller Open Class trotting purses available over the spring and with not a single horse foaled in this year’s two-year-old crop, and only three at the races in the three-year-old division, Muscle Hill won’t get much help in the age group ranks.

Regardless, the fact he is even in the conversation for leading trotting stallion speaks volumes of the champion qualities he is passing onto his progeny and the incredible impact he has made to trotting nloodlines in the Southern Hemisphere.

60% winners to foals is a testament to his unrivalled genetics and arguably no other stallion has made a greater impact in improving either gait in New Zealand from such limited opportunities.

For complete Alexandra Park results, click here.

by Brad Reid, for Harnesslink