After finishing second to Atlanta in last year's Maple Leaf Trot and racing in the shadow of Manchego through much of 2021 to date, Lindy The Great ($17.80) stalked the front flight and stormed home to a 1:51.3 victory in Saturday's (Sept. 4) $546,000 Maple Leaf Trot at Woodbine Mohawk Park.
Lindy The Great fired forward from post 6, and after putting in a few steps off the gate, James MacDonald gathered him into a smoother — and rapid — gait. The pair were forced to tuck into the pocket by Beads (David Miller) through a :13 first-furlong duel, and were relegated to third as Forbidden Trade (Bob McClure) pushed to the fore at the end of a :27 first quarter. Forbidden Trade controlled the terms through middle splits of :55.2 and 1:23.2, and dodged a first-over challenge from Atlanta (Yannick Gingras) when Beads broke from the pocket and Atlanta assumed that spot, giving MacDonald the clearance he needed to make his move with Lindy The Great — a situation helped when Manchego (Dexter Dunn) broke stride off the home turn after gearing up from third-over.
"I needed a perfect trip and I needed everything to go right," said MacDonald. "I said to myself, 'Just take your time; don't step on the wheel,' because he felt like he was going to erupt when I moved him. I was loaded with trot; no one was coming on the outside. Halfway down the lane, he dug in and found some more, and that's what champions do."
With clear sailing off the home turn, MacDonald switched Lindy The Great off the pegs around the tiring Atlanta — but they still had three lengths to make up on Forbidden Trade at the eighth pole. Still, Lindy The Great put in a determined effort to chase the 2019 Hambletonian winner down and nab him by a widening 1-1/4 lengths. Perfetto (Dagfin Henriksen) emerged from off the pace and circled Hypnotic AM (Doug McNair) for third; Atlanta faded to fifth.
Now a 19-time winner, Lindy The Great has banked over $1.57 million in his career. Julie Miller trains the the seven-year-old Crazed entire for the Andy Miller Stable, John Schmucker, John Mehlenbacher and the VIP Internet Stable.
"He's just a terrific animal," MacDonald concluded. "I can't thank Julie and Andy enough; I can't say enough good about them."
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