by Don Bielak, publicity director, Freehold Raceway

FREEHOLD, NJ – – Lindy Five Hundred and Great George Two each made every pole a winning one and captured their $30,738 divisions of eliminations for the Dexter Cup trot for three-year-olds at Freehold Raceway on Saturday.

In the first division, Lindy Five Hundred, a Lindy Lane colt owned by Jones For President Stable, KR Breeding and Edward Pachuta, posted splits of 29.1, 1:00, 1:29.2 on his way to an easy, four and one-half length tally in 1:58.4 with George Brennan in the sulky. Clearaway (Ray Schnittker), who raced coupled with Lindy Five Hundred as part of the Paul Doherty-trained entry, finished second. Corona Bluestone (Cat Manzi) nailed down the show spot, finishing five and three-quarters lengths behind the winner. Give Me Credit (Ron Pierce) also qualified for the Dexter final by virtue of a fourth place finish.

The victory was the first this year for Lindy Five Hundred in his third start. Closing as the prohibitive favorite, the Lindy Five Hundred / Clearaway entry returned a win mutuel of $2.40.

Division two saw Great George Two register a wire-to-wire victory with Jonathan Roberts at the reins. The son of Hobokenbahammamamas cut fractions of 29.2, 59.1, 1:29.1 en route to an impressive, one and three-quarter length win in 1:58.3. Manopoly (Marcus Johansson) got a rail trip and finished second. A late-arriving Armbro Copenhagen (Ray Schnittker) finished three and one-quarter lengths back in third, and the final berth for the Dexter final was earned by Praktickle Yankee (Jeff Gregory), who finished fourth.

Great George Two, a $25,000 supplementary nomination to the Dexter, won his fourth race this year in as many outings. The Big Roberts trained colt returned $2.80 as the 2-5 favorite in the wagering.

The $184,425 Dexter Cup final will be contested this coming Saturday at Freehold Raceway.