Cantab Lindy has found the new Hollywood Dayton Raceway to his liking, winning the $10,000 Saturday night Open Trot for the second straight week following a third-place finish in his initial local outing a week earlier.

The six-year-old altered son of Cantab Hall is owned and trained by Brent Davis and has had red-hot Josh Sutton on his lines since arriving at Dayton. The feature race triumph was Sutton’s 10th of the week and nudged him slightly ahead of Chris Page and Dan Noble for the first time in what promises to be a spirited three-way battle for the inaugural driver’s dash title.

Cantab Lindy defended his inside post position draw off the wings of the gate, yielding briefly to Brother Gus (Jason Brewer) before quickly retaking the lead at the :27.3 quarter mile marker. Sutton managed a :30.3 second quarter, front-end breather for the 4-5 favourite before speeding through a :27.4 third panel when Mystical Dew (Tyler Smith) ranged up to challenge. A :29-second final quarter was enough to hold off Mystical Dew by one and a half lengths, but the runner-up broke stride in deep stretch and was placed last for failure to lose ground following the miscue. Brother Gus and Ajuama (Greg Grismore) were next to cross the finish line and were elevated by the judges into the official place and show finishing positions.

The 1:55 score was the 20th win in Cantab Lindy’s career and lifted his lifetime bounty to almost a quarter million dollars.

(Dayton)