Trainer says Mr Muscleman ready

June 28, 2007

A month after facing Europe�s best in the Elitlopp, Mr Muscleman will tangle with the United States� fiercest free-for-all trotters in the $240,000 Titan Cup on Saturday night at the Meadowlands. Mr Muscleman is rated the 2-1 morning line favorite from post seven in the Titan Cup on Saturday night.

Mr Muscleman is the richest Standardbred in training with a bankroll of $3.5 million in earnings. He has won 37 of 67 career starts for trainer Noel Daley and owners Adam Victor Jr. and Sr. of New York. Though he appears to be in career form now, the two years prior were tenuous for Mr Muscleman. He had his award-winning 2005 season cut short by a suspensory injury and missed the 2006 summer stakes season at the Meadowlands due to concerns with his knee. However, a carefully managed schedule and time off seem to have placed those problems well behind him.

�He's probably as sound now as he's ever been,� Daley said.

Domestically, Mr Muscleman is perfect in four starts this season. He cemented an invitation to the Elitlopp in Sweden with a 1:53.3 win in his 2007 debut on April 22, while his stablemate and recent acquisition from Australia, A Touch Of Flair, received an invitation shortly after. Daley was unprepared for the media circus his horses created when they arrived at Solvalla Racecourse in Stockholm a week prior to the May 27 race.

Although he and the Victors enjoyed the shine of the spotlight, they eventually had to move the horses to another facility to ensure them some peace and quiet before race day.

�We had both of them at the track for the whole week,� Daley said. �Friday, Saturday and Sunday, we ended up just moving them into a little barn because enough was enough. Twenty-four, seven, there was television, photographers, everything. We had to give them a little breather for the last little bit of it, but it was good to see that people appreciate a good horse.�

The Elitlopp is contested in heats and Mr Muscleman finished a solid third in his first go around. However, his stablemate did not fare as well, finishing eighth in his elimination and failing to advance to the final. Heading into the final heat, Daley pulled Mr Muscleman�s hind shoes off and adjusted his bridle. Driver Ron Pierce sent the gelding to the front and he put in a valiant effort despite losing in the final strides to the pocketsitter, L'Amiral Mauzon. Daley was moved by the experience and he and the Victors are hopeful that Mr Muscleman will carry them back to Sweden in 2008.

�It was awesome, the whole week was,� he said. �They really looked after us well there. The crowds, 25,000 or 30,000 people, they stand up and yell and scream all day. We hope to go back next year if he�s good enough. It was by far the greatest moment [of my career]. The whole week was. It�s not just horse press there. The regular newspapers were there, television cameras, non-stop, all week. It was the most enjoyable week we�ve had. Before going, we had all sort of heard of it, but now this is what we�re aiming for, to hopefully go back next year.�

Daley was most impressed by the way in which Swedish racing fans embraced his horses.

�Even though we had the American and Australian horse, the fans are really into it,� he said. �After coming over, it really made it an exciting race. The last few years, they haven�t had top quality horses from anywhere else and this year, the publicity people said those horses going over created a lot more interest in the race for them too. We took over 150 Mr Muscleman caps and I was out of them in no time. I didn�t even bring one home for myself. People would come and wear them there. They would come to see the horses. They really appreciated good horses and that was really enjoyable. We had the Australian horse and there were people there, they were Swedes, with A Touch Of Flair shirts on and the big Boxing Kangaroo flag. They were Swedes, but they just decided that was their horse for the day. It was really a lot of fun to have people that interested in it.�

In his first race back on U.S. soil, Mr Muscleman held off Vivid Photo to win last week's $40,000 prep race for the Titan Cup. The field marched through the opening quarter in post position order, with Roger Hammer and Vivid Photo at the lead, but Pierce hustled Mr Muscleman to the top at the half. Vivid Photo narrowly squeezed through along the inside, but Mr Muscleman held him off by a head in a 26.2 charge to the wire. The time of the race, a non-wagering event held prior to the start of the card, was a sluggish 1:55.

�Usually when you go in these sort of prep races, the leader usually wins them,� Daley said after the race. �[Vivid Photo] did just race last week, so I was happy to sit the two-hole tonight. It will be a different story when they�re going for real money. [On Saturday] you�re going to have a bigger field. You�ve got Sand Vic, Corleone Kosmos. They�re not go any 1:55 miles. There are four or five very good horses in there right now. Corleone Kosmos has been very good and Vivid Photo. It will be a very good race.�

In addition to the Titan Cup, Mr Muscleman has the Nat Ray on Hambletonian Day at the Meadowlands and the Breeders Crown in Canada on his dance card.

�If we want to keep him for next year, that will probably be it,� he said. �We�ve got other things later on, if we want to. I�ll never shut him right down again, but he probably just might not race for a while and we�ll see what happens after that. We just take it week by week. He�s pretty good right now. This is his sixth year of doing it and it�s a pretty big effort from a big horse who has raced as tough as he�s raced. He goes whatever he needs to go.�

Meanwhile, Daley is getting A Touch Of Flair ready to return to the races. The trotter was a private purchase imported from Australia this spring. He made one start at the Meadowlands � a sparkling 1:52.3 win � before going to the Elitlopp.

�I trained him for the first time [on Friday, June 22],� Daley said. �He�s a lot better than the horse we thought we bought. I really think if he had gone as good [in the Elitlopp] as his race here at the Meadowlands, and hadn�t gotten sick on me, he�s right up to the those horses. He really, really is. We�ll give him some starts along the way here, but because we bought him late, he�s not staked to all these things from now on in. We�ll do a little bit of racing, keep him in good shape and then do the same with him, aim for the better races next year.

"He�s seven, the same as Muscleman, and he is a different horse," continued Daley. "He�s a very sound little horse. He�s got brilliant speed. I honestly thought, once we had the draws for the Elitlopp, he was my best shot. He had the inside [post in his elim], Muslceman the outside. We took his blood when he got there. We knew his white count was a little low all week. The morning of the race, he started coughing on me. We knew we could be in a little trouble. They scoped him and said they thought he�d be alright to go, he just wouldn�t be 100 percent. After the race he just fell down, he was pretty distressed. But, he�s feeling good now and he�s back.� (Meadowlands)

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