“The heir apparent is home!” in G1 Fred Shaw

Matt Cross perfectly surmised tonight’s (Mar. 31) group one harness racing action with a brilliant bit of punctuation to describe what in the end was a hard-fought Fred Shaw NZ Trotting Championship.

“Muscle Mountain holding off Aardiebythehill, and the heir apparent is home!”

Both lines were crucial. Because despite a gallant chasing performance from Aardiebythehill and John Dunn to get within a length at the finish, ultimately, the new heir to the throne did what he does best.

The six-year-old son of Muscle Hill blasted off the gate, with Hope wresting control of the race from the outset. From there, the pair that have now combined for 23 of 26 victories stacked them up, before rattling off a 55.6 last half for Group One number three.

Despite the pair going a little awkwardly in the run to the judge, it was a dominant performance.

Few trotters in the world are capable off rattling off a sprint as sharp as the Greg and Nina Hope trained son of Muscle Hil, which is a testament to Aardiebythehill’s career best Group One run in three elite company starts.

Robert and Jenna Dunn alongside trotting masestro Craig Edmonds have got the Mike Tanev owned son of Muscle Hill putting in performances well beyond his years. Not many barns would have the ability to produce Group One second in the first elite trotting race since the retirement of two-time horse of the year, Sundees Son. It’s hard to do much better than that.

You’d also be hard pressed to find an Open Class trotter more genuine than little ole Midnight Dash. The son of Muscle Hill has spent the better part of the last five years competing at mostly the elite level. The stablemate of Muscle Mountain put in another brave effort for third, with R T May and Midnight Dash combining for the six-year-old geldings second Group One placing.

MUSCLE MOUNTAIN REPLAY

Oscar Bonavena was a very nice effort after effectively extinguishing his chances with an uncharacteristic mistake off the mobile arm. Admittedly the tempo was a crawl early (fourth slowest Fred Shaw in 20 years), allowing the Purdon trained son of Majestic Son to get up and into the parked position before the field completed a circuit.

From there, the seven-year-old entire has knuckled down well after working hard in what was effectively a sharp sprint home.

A tip of that hat needs to go the connections of the two leading trotting mares of the moment. The Mark Jones trained Sioux Princess and the Mike Ward trained Time Up The Hill faced a tough assignment in tonight’s G1 feature and were not disgraced chasing home the elite males of the Open Class ranks for fifth and sixth respectively.

Another who was not disgraced was the R37 trotter, Rachmaninov for his breeder/owner/trainer, Trevor Grant.

The eight-year-old son of Diedre Don beat the likes of Son Of Patrick and My Moments Now on their merits and produced the fastest 2600m performance of his career, just as his trainer had claimed would be all he could ask for in a pre-race interview with Harnesslink.

Finally, seeing a siring trifecta in an Open Class Group One in New Zealand is not a rarity. The likes of champion pacing sire Bettor’s Delight achieving the feat on plenty of occasions, especially in age group features. He does however have 2932 live foals, which tells you a bit about the generational siring and trotting legend that is Muscle Hill.

He sired his first Open Class Group One trifecta with as few as 114 live foals. 110 of which are of racing age.

The two-time New Zealand trotting stallion of the year is now under siege in North America from the breed changing Chapter Seven and his sensational son, Walner. The fact remains however that Muscle Hill has been top dog for nigh on a decade and with limited opportunity to Down Under trotting mares, his impact has been immense.

All paths now lead to the North Island with the autumn trotting features for the Open Class trotters being stacked with features such as G2 Waikato Trotters Flying mile in a fortnight and the G1 National Trot in four weeks’ time.

The grand final is undeniably the $200,000 Rowe Cup on the 26th of May where Muscle Mountain will seek to add his first two-mile Group One event to a resume that now includes not one but two Fred Shaw NZ Trotting Champs.

In the meantime, buckle up and enjoy the journey with New Zealand trotting’s latest champion.

For complete Addington race results, click here.

by Brad Reid, for Harnesslink