Usa 2023-02-14
He's now done -- officially. Mr Muscleman, the nine-year-old gelded son of four-time leading North American trotting stallion Muscles Yankee is no longer racing. The pupil of trained Noel Daley retires as the richest active performer in the sport with $4,032,206.

"I tried to bring him back a few times, but it just wasn't to be," said Daley. "The good old boy is done. He's been good to us -- very good to us. It's time."

Mr Muscleman is one of only two horses in history to make $1 million in two seasons, but not consecutively. Peace Corps did it first in 1989 ($1,002,701) and in 1991 ($1,380,758) and Mr Muscleman followed suit in 2003 ($1,350,917) and again in 2005 ($1,528,900). He had an affinity for Canada, winning his four biggest pots at Mohawk Racetrack and taking his 1:51.1 mark at Woodbine Racetrack.

His most lucrative Canadian victories are listed below.

• $1,314,250 Canadian Trotting Classic (2003)
• $968,000 Breeders Crown (2005)
• $918,500 Maple Leaf Trot (2005)
• $861,000 Maple Leaf Trot (2004)

2005 Breeders Crown Final

 

"He was the best horse I've ever driven. The toughest, the classiest, the gutsiest," said pilot Ron Pierce. "He had the manners and covered the ground so easily. He was very much like Moni Maker -- long striding, big powerful horses who needed three strides to get where all the other horses needed four.

"As a two-year-old, Mr Muscleman had a little kink in his 'giddy up.' He would go a little sideways, but he was still talented enough to set a track record. When he came back at three, it wasn't too bad. By the time he was four, five, six, he was all smoothed out. I have to give credit to Noel Daley and Mike Vanderkemp for all the good work they did with him. They are the ones who kept him going. The Victors are the ones who put me up. They deserve all the credit, not me."

Pierce had a lot to say about the gelding who wowed crowds all over.

"I never once left the gate hard with him-until the Elitlopp," Pierce explained. "He scored down so good, and I felt I had to get out and to the top or I'd be the one racing on the outside. I always knew he had the gate speed, but I was so used to floating out with him. That day, he swooped the field. The French horse worked out the best trip, but Mr Muscleman did all the work. That race took its toll on him though."

(With files from the Meadowlands)