by Harness Racing Communications, a division of the USTA

Spring training, so to speak, is coming to an end. Now it’s time for the regular season to begin.

At least that’s how trainer Paul Doherty sees it as he prepares to send out three horses in Saturday’s $184,425 Dexter Cup at Freehold Raceway in New Jersey. Doherty’s trainees are elimination race winner Lindy Five Hundred, Clearaway and Armbro Copenhagen. Driver Ray Schnittker shares ownership in the three finalists.

“There’s power in numbers, that’s for sure,” said Doherty, who is Schnittker’s assistant trainer. “But this is kind of like having a baseball team; at the beginning of the year you’re high on them, then halfway through the season reality sets in. They’ve got a full season ahead of them, if they’re good enough. They’re in the game, anyway.”

Lindy Five Hundred and Clearaway are both eligible to the Hambletonian, trotting’s crown jewel, the first Saturday in August. Those two horses finished 1-2 in one of the two Dexter elims last weekend, with Lindy Five Hundred winning by more than four lengths in 1:58.4. Great George Two (see related story) won the other elimination race by nearly two lengths over Manopoly in 1:58.3. Great George Two, a $25,000 supplemental entry to the Dexter, is undefeated in four starts this season.

Doherty and Schnittker are no strangers to the Dexter, having teamed up to win the race with Armbro Trick in 2000 and with Armbro Plate in 1997. Both of those Dexter winners went on to finish third in the Hambletonian. Lindy Five Hundred was purchased as a yearling for $62,000 at Harrisburg while Clearaway went for $50,000 at the Kentucky Standardbred Sale.

“Clearaway is a big, good-looking horse,” Doherty said. “He’s by Yankee Glide, and we’ve had a little luck with some Yankee Glides. I think his best game will be on the larger tracks. He’s got a lot of speed and is a bigger horse. But for his first time, he handled the half-mile pretty well in his elim.

“Lindy Five Hundred also comes from a good family. He’s a good-looking colt. He had a knee problem last year, so we shut him down, but he’s come back really well. He should get better every time he races. He’s just getting into shape now. He’s real handy on a half-mile track and has a lot of gate speed. He handles the turns real well.”

Last year, Lindy Five Hundred had two wins and two seconds among his four starts, the last of which came on July 13. For his career, he has three wins and $61,531 in seven starts. Clearaway was winless in 2004, with his top money-earning finish being a fourth in a division of the Bluegrass at the Red Mile. This season, the gelding has won three of six starts, finished second three times and earned $31,834.

Armbro Copenhagen is a full brother to Armbro Barrister, the winner of $313,233 lifetime, including Zweig and Galt victories. Armbro Copenhagen, who is not eligible to the Hambletonian, was purchased for $25,000 at the Kentucky Standardbred Sale. He has won five of 15 lifetime races and earned $35,947.

“He’s a pretty nice horse,” Doherty said. “He’s a better looking horse than his brother, and he did pretty well for us. We didn’t wander too far off the beaten path.”

Lindy Five Hundred is eligible to the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes while Armbro Copenhagen and Clearaway are eligible in New Jersey. “It all comes down to where they can make money,” Doherty said. “We’ll just have to see where that is. There are some nice horses (in the Dexter) but there are some better ones yet to come.”

Manopoly, trained by Jimmy Takter and driven by Marcus Johansson, is the leading money-winner in the field with $86,355 in lifetime earnings. Last year, he was second in a division of the Champlain and won a Campbellville elimination race. He was making his first start of 2005 in the Dexter elims.

“The way we draw will be important,” Doherty said. “Great George Two is the one to beat. He was pretty impressive.”

Below is the field for Saturday’s $184,425 Dexter Cup at Freehold Raceway in alphabetical order, with most recent drivers listed. All horses, with the exceptions of Armbro Copenhagen, Great George Two and Praktickle Yankee are eligible to the Hambletonian.