Muscles Yankee Provides Campbell With Fifth Victory in Hambletonian

Muscles Yankee gave John Campbell a record fifth driving win in the Hambletonian and led a 1-2 finish by trainer Chuck Sylvester in trotting’s biggest race of the year Saturday.

A heavy favorite in the race for 3-year-olds, Muscles Yankee trotted the mile in 1:52 2/5 in beating David Raymond by three lengths.

The time was only one-fifth of a second off the stakes record set by Continentalvictory in 1996.

Kick Tail finished third and Conway Hall, the 2-year-old champion who has had an injury-plagued 1998 season, was fourth.

Muscles Yankee returned $2.60, $2.20 and $2.10 and earned $500,000 for his fourth consecutive victory and seventh in 10 starts this year.

“This is very special to win more Hambletonians than any man,” Campbell said. “Chuck is the man.”