East Rutherford, NJ (My Sportsbook) - A Hambletonian victory may have eluded Adam Victor with 2003 divisional champion Mr Muscleman, but this year he is firing both barrels at the $1.5 million prize with New York Yank and Med Vac.
Both colts will make their sophomore debuts this week at the Meadowlands. Their ultimate goal is the 80th edition of the Hambletonian, harness racing's most prestigious event, on Saturday, August 6 at the Meadowlands. Elimination races for the Hambletonian will be held on Saturday, July 30.
"Since I was a kid, I always heard about the Hambletonian," saidVictor, who races in partnership with his son, Adam Jr. "If there was one race I would like to win, it is the Hambletonian. No other race is more prestigious then the Hambletonian. It would be great to win it or just to do well in it. We had Mr Muscleman in it, and he flipped his palate in the race and didn't make it to the final. We are hoping we have better luck this year."
New York Yank, the Peter Haughton winner at two, makes his three-year-old debut in Thursday night's fifth race, a $25,600 division of the New Jersey Sire Stakes. The son of Muscles Yankee won three of five starts last year and earned $214,500 thanks to his victory in the $420,000 Peter Haughton. He tuned up for Thursday night's race with a 1:56.1 mile in a qualifier on May 27.
"He has gotten much bigger since last year," said Victor, leading owner at the Meadowlands since 2003. "He has matured. We thought last year Med Vac was our Hambletonian horse. I still think that way, but I have been impressed with New York Yank. He surprised me that he is the same caliber of a horse.
"We purposely have taken it easy with him; that's why we limited his starts at two," Victor added. "He's come back a better horse at three."
New York Yank was bred and initially developed by trainer Ivan Sugg, who owns the colt's dam, Mystic Memory. The Victors also own New York Yank's half- brother, Hand Glider [$251,405], whom they purchased from Sugg during his three-year-old season in 2002.
If New York Yank were to win the trotting classic, he would be the first since 1981 to do so after winning the Peter Haughton Memorial at two.
The Victors' original "Hambletonian horse," Med Vac will make his first start of the year in Friday night's tenth race, a $21,500 conditioned event. Coincidentally, the son of CR Commando was purchased privately from the same connections as Mr Muscleman and for a similar price [$165,000]. Both colts were bargain yearlings - Mr Muscleman sold for $2,000, while Med Vac fetched $5,200.
As a freshman, Med Vac won seven of 14 starts and only missed a check twice. He was third in both the Peter Haughton at the Meadowlands and the Matron at Dover. His victories included the Delaware Standardbred Breeders' Fund Final at Dover and a Reynolds Stake division at Pocono.
"Med Vac at the same age was more impressive then Mr Muscleman," Victor said. "We thought we had a Mr. Muscleman II. Noel [trainer Noel Daley] was very impressed with him. He was solid last year. He had more races and raced longer into the year then New York Yank. He has had some growth to him. I can't tell you now which horse I have higher hopes for."
Mr Muscleman, the 4-5 morning line favorite on Friday night in a $47,500 open trot at the Meadowlands, was named Three-Year-old Colt Trotter of the Year in 2003 after leading his division with nearly $1.2 million in earnings.
Although luck was not on his side in the Hambletonian, Mr Muscleman scored victories in the Canadian Trotting Classic, Kentucky Futurity and Breeders Crown. The winner of more than $2 million also garnered divisional honors in 2004 as the Older Trotter of the Year.
On the path to the Hambletonian, Med Vac and New York Yank will face the competition of defending freshman champion Ken Warkentin, among others.
"I don't know too much about the other horses yet so I can only look at my own," Victor said. "We had a few horses that were good two-year-olds and did not come back as three-year-olds. That was a concern since they were both good at two. You never know if you are going to get the same progress. From training and qualifying so far, they have both come back and have improved. We gauge how we race by the horse. Noel [Daley] takes his time with the horses and has the horses race themselves into shape."
AROUND THE MEADOWLANDS
Horse of the Year Rainbow Blue tops the 12 mares entered in the $215,000 Lady Liberty Final on June 17. There will be no elims this week but eight of the mares will compete in a $40,000 fillies and mares open for Lady Liberty eligibles on Friday night [sixth race]. The Lady Liberty finalists are: Apple Krisp, Ascending, Burning Point, Carolina Sunshine, Four Starzzzz Ittt, Glowing Report, L Dees Val, R Burning Desire, Rainbow Blue, She's My Belle, Smashingpringipisa and Stonebridge Kisses. The field for Friday's fillies and mares open [in post position order]: Smashingpringipisa, Jim Morrill Jr., 15-1; R Burning Desire, George Brennan, 10-1; Ascending, Patrick Berry, 8-1; She's My Belle, John Campbell, 5-1; Four Starzzzz Ittt, Eric Ledford, 5-1; Carolina Sunshine, Brian Sears, 2-1; Apple Krisp, Yannick Gingras, 15-1, and Burning Point, Ron Pierce, 3-1.
After Mr Muscleman's impressive win at Woodbine on Saturday night, trainer Noel Daley was ecstatic. "Mr Muscleman was tremendous," he said. "Ron Pierce shut him down. Pierce came back to the paddock with him and said we could have broken the [1:50] barrier, boys. He's got the Titan Cup next, and will race in an overnight here [Friday]."
The three-year-old pacers are back at Woodbine Saturday night for three elims for the North America Cup. All but eight of the 25 entrants are eligible to the $1 million Meadowlands Pace on July 16.
Racing at the Toronto track presents different challenges. "In the eight stake races we saw at Woodbine last Saturday, of the horses that were first and second, 15 of them were sitting one-two at the top of the lane, and that bias is not going to change," said trainer Brett Pelling.
"Rocknroll [the Pelling trained Rocknroll Hanover] has been over the track before so it's not a big deal. I raced up there for two years and one thing I learned was that track can change from the first race to the fifth, like night and day."
Dave Sabatelli reports that Four Starz Sisco came out of his Burlington division sick. "He scoped sick after Saturday's race, and there were absolutely no signs of it before hand," he said. "Eric Ledford said he scored down as comfortable as he's been all year. The 53.3 half did have something to do with it, but he was fourth on the inside at 4-5 and moved to the front as expected. We started treating him Saturday night. We pulled his blood on Sunday. It's not a bad infection, but enough to affect his performance. When you look back, he actually hasn't had a good start in him since the Berry's Creek. We're not as confident, but we'll regroup and try the North America Cup eliminations."
