Winbak News

NEWS AND INSIGHT ON WINBAK FARM

Read below for the latest on Winbak Achievements and graduates.
Stories are from the leading industry news sources.

>

Rexdale, ON ---The incomparable Muscle Hill made his dominance of the 3-year-old trotting colt division indisputable tonight, as he closed out his career with a 2-1/2 length victory in the $617,880 Breeders Crown Final tonight at Woodbine.

 

Sent off at 1-9, with no place or show wagering, Muscle Hill positioned himself fourth leaving the gate while the lightly-raced Swan For All (Ron Pierce) led the field through the early fractions. DriverBrian Sears put Muscle Hill in motion at the three-eighths pole, and once they cleared Swan For All, the result was as close to a foregone conclusion as harness racing can deliver.


The son of Muscles Yankee posted a blistering :26.4 third quarter, and as they entered the lane he opened up to four lengths, while Swan For All misfired while trying to keep up, and veered inside the pylons.


Triumphant Caviar (Luc Ouellette) stepped up for second, and while Swan For Allrecovered for third, he was ruled to have gone inside more than three pylons and was set back to sixth, giving the show check to Neighsay Hanover and driverJohn Campbell.


Thanks to a strong headwind, no records were set, with Muscle Hill trotting home in 1:54.1. But the colt did set a single-season earnings record for trotters, padding his 2009 bankroll to the tune of $2.4 million.


Muscle Hill ends his career with 20 consecutive wins, his only loss having been suffered in his 2-year-old debut. Trained by Nova Scotia native Greg Peck, he is owned by Jerry Silva, Muscle Hill Racing LLC, and Southwind Farm, who have enjoyed total purses of $3,318,782 from the colt’s efforts.


Part-owner Tom Pontone, who helped select the colt at the Standardbred Hose Sale in the fall of 2007, remarked, “If you told me two years ago I'd be at the Breeders Crown two years in a row, I would have never guessed it.


“We were looking for him to be a good trotter. I believed he is the best trotter I’ve seen in 25 to 30 years. I can't wait to race one of his offspring. I would love to see him race five more years, but he did what he had to do and now it's time for him to go to stud.”


“You’re always nervous before a race,” added part-owner Jerry Silva. “To finish the year undefeated is amazing. I never had a horse, in all my years of racing, that was undefeated. And he did it. He did it like I knew he would do it.”