Trotter Lexis D J shot up the passing lane and wore down slight favourite Indiana Hall in the $11,000 Preferred 2 at Grand River Raceway on Wednesday night
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Driven by Scott Zeron, the Amigo Hall-Lexus Lulu gelding settled behind insider Indiana Hall (Trevor Henry), who carved out a :28.2 opening quarter before coming under attack by Hour Lavec (Billy Davis Jr.) at the :59.2 midway point.
Indiana Hall turned back that foe while second over Chewey (Robert Shepherd) rallied three-wide as they raced to the third quarter station in 1:29.1.
Meanwhile, Lexis D J was getting ready to pounce on the leader once they hit the stretch and he found room at the pylons to do just that. The Scott Arsenault trainee swooped up to nab the victory by half a length in 1:59.2. Chewey finished over three lengths behind the top two.
The 8-5 second choice paid $5.20 to win for the 18th time in his career. The bay five-year-old, who hit the board in his last two Preferred starts at Western Fair Raceway and Georgian Downs, is owned by Louis Arsenault of Freelton, Ont. and Brandon Arsenault of Waterdown, Ont. He now has three wins, four seconds and one third on his 2012 record from 13 starts. The lion's share of the purse pushed Lexis D J's career bankroll to $232,785.
Also on the card, 2011 Earl Rowe Memorial Cup Gold champion All Cantab won his six-year-old season's debut in 1:59 flat for trainer-driver Blair Burgess.
To view Wednesday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Wednesday Results - Grand River Raceway.