Lauren Harmon wins Hall Of Fame Trot

Lexington, KY…Oct. 4, 2024…Lauren Harmon gave the 11-year-old horse Muscles For Life (Muscle Mass) a patient, heady drive to score a sharp 1:54.3 harness racing win in the $15,000 Hall of Fame Museum and Amateur Trot held at The Red Mile on Friday.

The classy Muscle Mass veteran earned his 53rd career win and vaulted over the $500,000 plateau in career earnings—now $504,147—with a :28 rally home to score by three-parts-of-a-length over Holton, driven by Steve Oldford with Muscling Vegas, handled by Dein Spriggs, third.

MUSCLES FOR LIFE REPLAY

 

Termite, with Rodney DeBeck handling the lines, was fourth after a monster brush from fifth to take charge turning for home while Worthy of Honor and Jim ‘Trey” Brinson picked up the nickel in a star-studded amateur field of eight.

The scramble for supremacy was evident when the wings folded, as Muscles For Life, Holton and Worthy of Honor all sought he top spot with the latter taking charge from the eight post and caught wide through the opening :27.3 stanza with Holton relenting and Muscles For Life settling up shop in third with A Royal Line next over Termite.

Halfway through in :55.4, Termite brushed strongly from fifth—at 64 to 1—and collared Worthy Of Honor by the third station in 1:26.

In the lane, Muscles For Life found some room to roam and took charge as the field fanned across the Red Mile stretch, out-gunning Holton to the line in his fastest winning mile since his win at Pompano Park in late December of 2021.

In a post race interview, Lauren said, “After using my horse (Muscles For Life) a bit leaving, I thought it prudent to sit kinda chilly until we turned for home hoping that we’d fan out and give him some racing room.

“That horse is a pro and knows what to do and still has pep in his step…even at this age.

“It was a very satisfying trip to the winner’s circle in this Hall of Fame event and I sure am proud of the horse’s performance today.”

For Ms. Harmon, this was her 40th career driving win.

Muscles For Life, trained by Krista Harmon for Jerald Hawks, pushed his 2024 bounty to $22,740 on the strength to of 5-6-2 scorecard in 22 starts.

He’s won at 20 different racing ovals throughout his career and rewarded his faithful with a $13.10 mutuel as second choice in the betting.

For complete race results, click here: US Trotting results

by John Berry, for The Red Mile