Muscles Marinara wins trot

Muscles Marinara grabbed the lead at the start, lulled the field to sleep with pedestrian fractions, then sprinted home 1 1/2 lengths ahead of a three-horse blanket finish for place honors and captured the $35,000 feature trot at the Meadowlands Friday night in 1:55.

John Campbell was in the bike as Muscles Marinara trotted leisurely through fractions of :29, :58.2 and 1:27.3 with the undefeated Hellava Hush and Cat by Manzi sitting in the pocket. Brian Sears brought Sand Vic first-up from last on the backstretch and reached the leader at the three-quarters. But a challenge never materialized as Muscles Marinara brushed home in :27.2 for the victory. Sand Vic pushed his nose in front of the late rally by Hez Striking and Ron Pierce. Hellava Hush, winner of the Mack Lobell Series in a sweep at Pompano in February, finished fourth.

The win for Muscles Marinara was the first in five starts for the 6-year-old Muscles Yankee gelding owned by the Gandolfo Stables and Lenny Zelin and trained by Ken Rucker.

The driving victory for Campbell gave him a sweep of the evening's features. Earlier he captured the $32,000 filly and mare pace with Easton Alliance N in 1:51.3, defeating Glowing Report by 1 3/4 lengths with Burning Point third.

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