Muscle Mountain retires

Muscle Mountain (Muscle Hill), one of the greatest trotters of the modern era, has run his last race.

“He’s been unbelievable and I’ll be forever thankful for what he’s done for me. It’s bloody sad to be honest. It’s one of those things when you think ‘don’t be sad it’s the end, just be happy that it happened,” said regular driver and co-trainer Ben Hope.

Muscle Mountain provided Hope with a host of special memories, but one that stands out is his third Fred Shaw win.

“My grandmother had just passed away that week and she was my biggest supporter. I always got a text after every drive without fail. She was a big part of my life and to win a Group One that week was pretty surreal.”

Although Muscle Mountain won a host of feature races, some multiple times, the Dominion and the Rowe Cup eluded him.

“He missed away in the Rowe Cup (2023) and ran a slashing fourth. And in the Dominion (2023) he had a fibrillation. He trialled the week beforehand. He was unbelievable and in the zone. Without being disrespectful to the others, I thought that was the year he was going to win the Dominion. The year before, he ran second to Sundees Sun. He was a year older and Sundees Sun had retired.”

Ben won 38 times driving the gelding, while Ricky May drove him to win twice and Matty Williamson once. The gelding provided Ben with seven Group One wins as a driver.

“He wanted to win. He had an unbelievable gait and his speed was phenomenal. He’s like no other horse I’ve driven. I was lucky enough to win the Rowe Cup with Mr Love but there’s still no comparison between them when Muscle Mountain was at his best. His turn up speed was incredible.”

During the eight seasons he raced exclusively in New Zealand, he broke numerous race, track and New Zealand records.

He still holds the 1700 metre mobile record for trotters (1-59.6), the 1980 metre mobile record of 2-21.8, the 2000 metre stand record of 2-28.3 and the 2600 metre stand record of 3-12.9. All were recorded at Addington where he won thirty races.

“Since he started racing there have been a lot of horses go by the wayside, but we’ve been lucky enough to keep him going for such an amazing amount of time. That’s full credit to Mum and Dad. It’s been a team effort. They’ve both played major roles.”

Muscle Mountain won three of New Zealand feature trotting races four times; the Summer Trotting FFA, the Fred Shaw Memorial New Zealand Trotting Championship and the Ashburton Trotters Sprint.

“Horse like that at the open class level just don’t do that these days. That’s testament to how well they’ve looked after him.”

Greg and Nina trained him to win thirty five times while Greg and Ben picked up the balance with six. When he won the 2026 Fred Shaw it was Ben’s second Group One win as a trainer.

Raced by the Dobson family under Cullen Breeding Limited, Muscle Mountain’s biggest season was in 2022 when he was a five year old. He won nine his fourteen starts and banked over $260,000.

“I’m very grateful to the Dobsons and the horse for everything.”

Muscle Mountain’s biggest winning margin was six lengths in the 2023 Ashburton Trotters Sprint while his fastest mile rate of 1-53.2 was recorded when he won the same race in 2021.

He won four of his six two year old starts including the G3 New Zealand Two Year Old Trotting Stakes which was his first group success.

Muscle Mountain became one of the most feared trotters going round, he had a huge public following and there was always a buzz when he raced.

He’ll certainly leave a huge gap in the already depleted open class trotting stocks in this country.

Thanks for the wonderful memorys big fella.

by Bruce Stewart, for Harnesslink