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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 […]
Muscle Mountain’s (Muscle Hill) win in the Fred Shaw New Zealand Trotting Championship at Addington on Friday night is testament to the management strategy put in place by trainers Greg, Nina and Ben Hope for their very talented trotter. MUSCLE MOUNTAIN REPLAY The nine year old is the veteran of seven full seasons of racing, […]
The Greg and Ben Hope trained Midnight Dash (Muscle Hill) took out his first Group trotting feature at Omakau this afternoon when he easily won the $40,000 Group Three Bulk Liquid Solutions Gallagher Gold Cup. Driver Gemma Thornley settled the nine year old back in the field early, before moving him forward in front of […]
Ascot Park horseman Jeremy Douglas has a few winning chances on his home track tomorrow. The Douglas day gets started in Race Two when Muscle Dash (Muscle Hill) races in a non-win trot. He’s only been at Douglas’s barn for a short time. Jeremy has two starters in Race Five – Reg The Ledge (Raging […]
Muscle Mountain (Muscle Hill) reached remarkable heights this afternoon when he won his fourth Ashburton Trotters Sprint. That sort of record is unheard of in modern day harness racing and is testimony to the horse’s ability and management. “He’s just been a super horse for a long time and testament to Mum (Nina) and Dad […]
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – As if the plethora of activities weren’t enough to get you off the couch and heading to The Meadowlands for Hambletonian 100 Day on Saturday (Aug. 2), once track-goers get to the mile oval, they will have an opportunity to meet and greet one of the best of all time. The […]
Ben Hope who now trains in partnership with his father Greg, recorded his first black type harness racing win when Muscle Mountain (Muscle Hill) took out the $60,000 Group Two Lone Star Alexandra Park Lyell Creek Stakes in Auckland last night. “I can’t take too much credit to be fair. Mum and Dad have been […]
Champion harness racing trainer Mark Purdon saddled up his first galloping winner at Ellerslie today. Buster Shaw in the hands of Jasmine Fawcett took out the first race for Purdon, whose horses prior to today’s win had recorded a second and two thirds at the races. Edendale breeders Alex and Karen Milne have had a […]
Southland harness racing fans could be in for a treat on Invercargill Cup Day this year with Greg and Nina Hope contemplating bringing Muscle Mountain (Muscle Hill) south for the David Moss Stakes. “We might look at Invercargill this year and their big trot in December. If he’s going good we might head to Auckland […]
Woodend Beach harness racing trainers, Greg and Nina Hope combined for a second consecutive Group Two Anzac Cup with a dominant victory by Muscle Mountain (Muscle Hill) in tonight’s G2 $53,700 trotting feature at Alexandra Park. The training partnership had won the race last year with a surprise victory for Eurokash (Love You), with Muscle […]
Easter Saturday sees a return of Premiere harness racing at Addington Raceway on Saturday afternoon with the Group One $110,000 Fred Shaw Memorial New Zealand Trotting Championships headlining a strong 11 race programme. The Greg & Nina Hope trained superstar, Muscle Mountain (Muscle Hill), is looking to etch his name in the record books and […]
Muscle Mountain (Muscle Hill) fired a significant warning shot across the Tasman tonight at Addington Raceway with harness racing’s inaugural TAB Trot Slot less than a month away. His co-trainer Greg Hope told Harnesslink followers on Thursday that he was happy with the superstar son of Muscle Hill’s work ahead of tonight’s resumption in the […]
Friday night at Addington Raceway sees the harness racing return of the Greg and Nina Hope-trained superstar square gaiter, Muscle Mountain (Muscle Hill) where he will have an opportunity to defend his title in the Group Three $40,000 Lamb & Hayward Classic. The four-time Group One winner and holder of five current New Zealand records […]
They don’t come any bigger than Group Ones in harness racing. Tonight (Apr. 28), Muscle Mountain (Muscle Hill) secured his first in the North Island and fourth in total when taking out the $86,850 Peter Breckon Memorial National Trot at Alexandra Park. The Greg and Nina Hope-trained superstar has been peerless since the retirement of […]
Thursday night harness racing at Addington Raceway may have been without some of the stars of the track with most of the big guns making their way north for the North Island’s autumn carnival, but it may have just unearthed a star in the making. Headlining the eight-race programme was the ninth running of the […]
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 […]
New Zealand harness racing needs star horses who make the public sit up and take notice. Muscle Mountain (Muscle Hill) is every bit a superstar, and in the next 12 months, he might just become a household name to the broader public, with 2023 likely to be his coronation as the new king of Australasian […]
Harness racing superstar Muscle Mountain’s (Muscle Hill) demolition job a fortnight ago at Addington Raceway, where he broke his own national record for 1980m, coincided with my first-ever visit to Yonkers Raceway, home of the $1 million (US) Yonkers International Trot. I was left speechless watching the Greg and Nina Hope-trained gelding, who we all […]
The 2022 harness racing season was a breakout year for sires on the Stallions Australasia roster. Leading the way was the great Muscle Hill, the premier sire for five consecutive seasons and who finished runner-up on the North American all aged list with $10.8million last year. Muscle Hill finished second on the NZ sires’ list […]
Young harness racing trainer, Tom Bamford achieved his second milestone of the 2022 racing season when Muscle Bank (Muscle Hill) won the North Motors Handicap Trot at the Geraldine Cup meeting on Saturday afternoon (Nov 26.). Having celebrated his first winning drive only 6 months ago, Bamford registered his first win as a trainer with […]
Harness racing fans were greeted with mild surprise with the inclusion of Bolt For Brilliance (Muscle Hill) in the nominations for Cup Day’s (8th Nov.) feature trotting race, the $30,000 G3 Worthy Queen Trot. Historians will recall horses like Scotch Tar having won the Worthy Queen in the past, and the new addition to Cup […]
The road to the Dominion took another step in its journey on ‘Magic Monday’ at Ashburton Raceway this afternoon (Oct. 24) with the 33rd edition of the Ashburton Trotters Flying Mile. Ben Hope and Muscle Mountain (Muscle Hill) were looking to become the seventh back-to-back winners of the $30,000 Group Three feature and came to […]
Once again, we highlight some of the harness racing breeding successes from around the country for the week ending the 16th of October. Leading Pacing Sire: Bettor’s Delight | 5 winners Leading Pacing Broodmare Sire: Bettor’s Delight & Christian Cullen | 5 winners Leading Trotting Sire: Muscle Hill | 4 winners Leading Trotting Broodmare Sire: Sundon | 3 winners […]
Once again, we highlight some of the harness racing breeding successes from around the country for the week ending the 2nd of October. Leading Pacing Sire: Bettor’s Delight, A Rocknroll Dance, Art Major | 4 winners A Rocknroll Dance was a John Dunn special away from taking out top honours this week when Dance Til Dawn […]
