Superstar resumes his quest to reach trotting’s summit

Friday night at Addington Raceway sees the harness racing return of the Greg and Nina Hope-trained superstar square gaiter, Muscle Mountain (Muscle Hill) where he will have an opportunity to defend his title in the Group Three $40,000 Lamb & Hayward Classic.

The four-time Group One winner and holder of five current New Zealand records has been unsighted on race night since suffering an arterial fibrillation during the running of last season’s Dominion Trot.

The health scare could not have come at a less opportune time, however, it could have been worse and with the richest ever trotting race to be carded in a months time at Cambridge Raceway, his trainer thinks the enforced spell could have a silver lining.

“Obviously we would have loved to have won the Dominion. But they are not machines and for him to have to have downtime, it was probably timely. The three to four weeks he had out did him no harm and may be a blessing with what is on the horizon in the next few months,” said Greg Hope.

“He seems to have come back good and we are happy with where he is at. We are trying to peak him for the Trot Slot at Cambridge so whatever he does on Friday he will improve. His work has been great and we are really happy, but he is a little bit on the fat side,” he conceded.

The $40,000 trotting feature comprises a select field of six runners, with the freshly crowned New Zealand Trotter of the Year, Oscar Bonavena (Majestic Son) going into the Group Three as the punters elect on the back of an incredible six months.

The Mark and Nathan Purdon trained eight-year-old entire is in sublime form having dismantled anything in his path since waltzing away with the Dominion on Show Day. The former age group star has won his last six on end and eight of his last ten dating back to his fresh up win in the DG Holmes Trot at Motukarara in September.

“It’s great to get those good horses back to their best and Mark and Nathan have done an unreal job to get him back firing again because he looked like he had gone off the boil. He is obviously the yardstick at the moment and whoever beats him home will probably be winning the race on Friday night with the form he has displayed over the spring and summer,” said Hope.

Oscar Bonavena will start off a level back mark of 30m with Muscle Mountain (unruly) and the pair have won an incredible 55 races between them. With race fitness on his side and and the inform Natalie Rasmussen in the cart, ‘Oscar’ is a deserved favourite for what poses to be an entree to some bigger clashes in the very near future.

“I am picking Ben will drive him for one run being a small field and what he does tomorrow night, he will improve immensely off it. He has just the one quiet trial and he is definitely not screwed down but we feel like the next two to three weeks will bring him on towards peak fitness.

“He should be fine with the standing start fresh and I don’t believe it will be an issue. I know Ben is of the same opinion. He should have plenty of room off the unruly to keep moving and step him away,” he said.

While it is hard to see anything else beating the two elite trotters home, last seasons four-year-old trotter of the year in Mystic Max (Village Mystic) will no doubt make his presence felt with a 10m handicap after a stoic run fresh up a fortnight ago for second behind Eurostyle.

There is no denying the class of the Mark and Nathan Purdon trained High Energy (Father Patrick) and she adds a layer of the unknown as she makes the leap from racing her age group and sex into the Open Class fray as a now four-year-old mare. The former juvenile sensation had a bit of a rocky sophomore campaign, but as a Group One winner and placegetter, has to be respected in the fawn and brown Breckon Farms silks.

And while the in form Maui (Peak) might be outclassed in this grade, he deserves his chance against the big boys having won four and placed on three occasions in his last eight starts which have seen him traversing around the South Island like a well travelled camper van. He joins High Energy off the front for tomorrow night’s assignment and wont be afraid of running them along in front.

That leaves Muscle Mountain’s stablemate in the often overlooked Midnight Dash (Muscle Hill) to complete the field. The diminutive trotter (compared to his stablemate at least) always tries his guts out, but looked to be down on his best form late last season after some tough racing in the Open Class ranks. His fresh up third a fortnight ago after 107 days away from the action suggests he is another who has benefitted from time in the paddock.

“He is definitely up there with the best of them, probably not the Muscle Mountain’s of the world, but he’s right there in the echelon below them. We are really happy with the way he has come back and he is a much happier horse this time,” said Hope.

“We were having a few little soundness issues last campaign, but its amazing what the freshen up has done for his confidence. He will have taken a lot of benefit from his fresh up run given he only had the one trial to prepare and he wont disgrace himself tomorrow night,” he said.

Hope’s trotting duo will be joined on the eleven race Addington programme by a trio of pacers, with Jack Tar (Tintin In America) and Celtic Spirit (Sweet Lou) facing off in a tidy field of up to rating 70 pacers from the mobile over the 1980m in the fourth race.

“Celtic Spirit is always a chance because he is able to put himself in the race and get onto the speed. It’s a really nice field to be fair and its gunna depend on how much pressure is really on.

“But that will also suit Jack Tar, he loves the speed on, so if they go break neck throughout and they dont get home that quick, he will just keep coming. He loves the speed on and loves the last quarter to be the slowest. We are happy with both of them and they are working well and seem pretty healthy,” he said.

In the feature pace on the programme, Mossdale Ben (A Rocknroll Dance) will be looking to recapture the form that saw him finish a close up fourth in last year’s New Zealand Cup, and his trainer think’s punters can expect an improved performance from the now five-year-old.

“He had been down a notch and we did a lung wash on him and treated him for his allergies. he seems a lot brighter and we are really happy with where he is at now. On his work, you would expect him to go pretty good and he will driven for one run at them,” he said.

Not one to usually get carried away by a trials performance, particularly one that saw a stable runner galloping in the run home, Hope had reason to be excited by the first public appearance of a daughter of Carlton at Rangiora on Wednesday.

Hope owns the now eight-year-old stallion with his wife Nina and made the decision to give the son of Dream Vacation an opportunity to stand at stud where is now based at Wai Eyre Farm in North Canterbury.

His first crop of just six live foals are now two-year-olds, and it looks like the gamble to venture into the stud side of the trotting business is one that will provide plenty of fun for supporters of the well bred descendant of imported American mare, Lily The Pink.

“It’s a surreal thing having trained him and given his temperament and also his pedigree which includes two Oaks winners as well as the Dream Vacation speed factor, I felt like I had to give him his shot at stud and it was great to see the support he has been getting recently. Whether they have the ability to compete at the highest level, time will tell, but the early signs are good and we are looking forward to watching their progress over the next few seasons.

“The filly at the trials got a bit upset and made a break. Ben said he probably needed to put ear plugs in her. I have driven about four or five of them that have been broken in and there isn’t one that I didn’t think had a show at making the grade. They all trot up, are great mannered and seem to have a good turn of foot. Out of the four or five that we have driven, we probably have as nicer yearling as we have ever had out of Crazy N Love by him. He produced six live foals in his first crop and i know those who have them are all really happy with them,” he said.

For complete Addington fields, click here.

by Brad Reid, for Harnesslink