East Rutherford, NJ --- It was a veritable walk in the park for Muscle Hill in the $1,520,333 Hambletonian on Saturday afternoon at the Meadowlands, taking the lead right off the gate and trotting six lengths ahead of the field, reaching the winner's circle without so much as a breath of warm air from a challenger at driver Brian Sears shoulder.

USTA/Mark Hall photo

Muscle Hill won the $1,520,333 Hambletonian on Saturday afternoon at the Meadowlands in 1:50.1, a track and stakes record time, equaling the all-age world record for a mile track.

The time of 1:50.1, in track and stakes record time, equaled the all-age world record for a mile track. Muscle Hill joins Donato Hanover, Giant Diablo and Lucky Jim, who reached that mark with a win in the Nat Ray earlier in the card. The previous Hambletonian record was held by Glidemaster, 1:51.1 in 2006. Muscle Hill is trained by Greg Peck and owned by Jerry Silva, TLP Stable, Southwind Farm and Muscle Hill Racing.

Sears and Muscle Hill went straight ahead from their spot on the rail to trip the timer in :27.1 at the quarter-mile mark, followed by Explosive Matter and Ron Pierce, and Symphonic Hanover (David Miller) a length behind him. That trio stayed in that alignment to the :55 half and then to the three quarters (1:23) in the exact same order. By the time the field turned for home, Pierce was tapping at Explosive Matter, Brian Sears took a quick look over his left shoulder and Muscle Hill continued on an unchallenged path to history.

"Hes a great horse, I had a ton of confidence in him and I knew he could do it," said winning driver Brian Sears. "(The opening quarter of) :27.1 is a pretty honest quarter and I didnt have to jam him up. I figured I had the best horse and I was going to let him roll. I wasnt going to go suicidal fractions and let them run me down. My horse was within himself."

Asked what he was thinking as the wire was in sight, Sears chuckled and said, "Just dont let anything stupid happen, wait for the wire."

"I didnt say it publicly, but I thought he could go in (1):50 today," said winning trainer Greg Peck, who noted the support of his family, sons Brendan and Sean, and his wife, Nancy. "Nancys been through a lot. We came here 19 years ago with nothing. We saw our first Hambletonian here and its hard to believe were standing here now.

"I cant help but think of home (Sydney Mines, Nova Scotia)," said Peck. "My father Bernie, my mother Grace, they gave me a great grounding. My father was great with trotters, he was ahead of his time. So its nice for them, it really is."

Driver Sears had similar sentiments. "Its very humbling to win such prestigious races (The Oaks and The Hambletonian) on a day like today. I couldnt be any happier. I knew I had the horse this year to get it done and I never had any doubts. This horse has just been waiting for me to call on him. I knew hes been sitting on a big one and he didnt let us down."

Explosive Matter (Pierce) was second and was followed by Calchips Brute, The Chancellor, Symphonic Hanover, Reinsman Hanover, Judge Joe, Triumphant Caviar, Federal Flex, and Hot Shot Blue Chip, who made a break soon after the start and finished last