Lindy Five Hundred wins

Lindy Five Hundred, benefitting from a carefully rated drive by George Brennan, held off a determined final surge by Great George Two to win the $184,425 Dexter Cup final in 1:59.1 Saturday at Freehold Raceway.



Brennan drove Lindy Five Hundred quickly from post two at the start and got his colt to the lead before the first turn. Great George Two, driven by Jonathan Roberts, was also hustled from the gate leaving from post seven and dropped into the pocket leaving the first turn.



Lindy Five Hundred passed the opening panel in a swift :28, but immediately began to slow the pace thereafter and led at the midway point of the mile in 59.3 as one of his entrymates, Clearaway (Ray Schnittker), joined him on the outside.



The two leaders raced head and head through a mild, :31.3 third quarter and were still racing as a team as the field headed into the final turn, with Great George Two under a strong hold in the pocket.



At that point, Manopoly (Marcus Johansson) rushed up from the back of the pack and briefly took a three-wide lead on the turn before weakening, then going offstride.



Through the stretch, Brennan asked Lindy Five Hundred for speed and the son of Lindy Lane responded with an all-out sprint to the wire, where he held off a fast-closing Great George Two to win by a neck. Clearway faded through the stretch but was able to last for the show spot, two and three-quarters lengths behind Lindy Five Hundred.



Ray Schnittker, who trains Lindy Five Hundred for the partnership of Jones For President, KR Breeding and Edward Pachula, revealed that his pre-race strategy worked to perfection. "I told George (Brennan) to go right to the front and not to let the seven (Great George Two) get the lead," Schnittker said. "If we could get in front of the seven, I knew we had the race."



"He's eligible for the Hambletonian, so we'll shoot for that," Schnittker added. "I'd like to shoot for everything he's eligible for."

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