Hall of Fame

 



mr muscleman

Year of Induction: 
2017
Year of Birth: 
2000
Inducted as a: 
Racehorse
Election Into Living Hall of Fame: 
2016
Gait: 
Trotter
Record: 
5,1:51.1s
Earnings: 
$3,582,823
Sire: 
Muscles Yankee
Dam: 
Meadowbranch Irene
Sire of Dam: 
Meadow Road
Biography: 

Trotting gelding Mr Muscleman was foaled on April 23, 2000 in Versailles, Kentucky. Bred by Brittany Farms and Spar J Stables, Mr Muscleman was a $2,000 yearling purchase by Pamela Wagner of Fairfax, Virginia at the Tattersalls Select Yearling Sale in September 2001. Current owners Adam Victor & Son Stable of New York City purchased Mr Muscleman from Wagner just two starts into his 2002 freshman season.

Trained by Noel Daley and driven by Ron Pierce, three-time divisional winner Mr Muscleman raced from 2002-2007. Mr Muscleman is currently ranked fifth among leading moneywinning North American trotters of all time. He recorded 37 wins out of 69 starts, finishing off the board only eight times in six seasons of racing.

In eleven starts as a two-year-old in 2002, Mr Muscleman had five wins, including the Bluegrass and Harold Dancer Memorial. The following year, victories in the Breeders Crown, Canadian Trotting Classic and Kentucky Futurity contributed to Mr Muscleman being voted 2003 Three-Year-Old Trotting Colt of the Year. His earnings of $1,178,115 were the most ever by a three-year-old trotting gelding.

In 2004, winning the Maple Leaf Trot and American-National helped earn Mr Muscleman the title of Older Trotter of the Year in both the U.S. and Canada.

In 2005, five-year-old Mr Muscleman’s victories included the Breeders Crown, Maple Leaf Trot, Titan Cup and Classic Series, where he set his record 1:51.1s. His season’s earnings of $1,364,220 were the most ever by an older Standardbred gelding and made Mr Muscleman the only Standardbred to earn $1 million in two non-consecutive seasons of North American racing. He was voted 2005 Trotter of the Year and Older Trotter of the Year.

In 2007, seven-year-old Mr Muscleman finished a close second in Sweden’s Elitlopp and won all four of his North American starts. Persistent leg issues forced his retirement in 2008.

Mr Muscleman has been a resident of the Kentucky Horse Park’s Hall of Champions since October 2009. The members of the Harness Racing Museum elected him to harness racing’s Hall of Fame in December 2016.