Hilltop Sonar (Chris Page) came out quickly from the wings and received the first call, controlling the first half mile in: 28.3 and 58.2.
Jimbaran Zon S (Luke Hanners) was first over at half time and provided cover for Andy van Amaretto (Luke Ebersole) and the eventual winner.
Trevor Smith sent Robert Michael three wide around the tiring Jimbaran Zon S down the backstretch and headed in front at three-quarters in 1:26.4.
La Lolita (Sam Widger) came off the rail in third and tried to chase the new leader, but Robert Michael was 5 lengths ahead in 1:55.3.
Hilltop Sonar retained third place.
ROBERT MICHAEL REPEAT
The four-year-old gelding son of Crazy Wow has now won back-to-back efforts for trainer Jason Irwin and owner Robert Weinstein.
In the card’s opening race, a $14,000 conditioned pace, Top Shelf Sherry (Luke Hanners) recorded his first win in career 28 starts thanks to a patient effort and a three-wide move into the final corner.
Ocean Tide (Austin Hanners) was fastest in the first eighth and led the field of nine
Top Shelf Sherry broke off an early attempt and was pulled to fifth on the rail during the opening panel of :27.1.
A three-eighths move by Capital Gain (Tyler Smith) started a chain reaction, forcing Top Shelf Sherry off the rail, which forced third-place El Jute (Trace Tetrick) to the outside.
El Jute appeared to be ahead in the three quarters in 1:26.1 on the outside. Ocean Tide fought back and led around the final turn.
Luke Hanners had Top Shelf Sherry around the leader on the final bend and pulled away by 7 ½ lengths in 1:55.1.
El Jute held onto second place and Capital Gain completed the trifecta.
The winning second-year pacer has posted two consecutive second-place finishes since taking nearly three months off late in the summer.
Bret Schwartz trains the Bit Of A Legend N gelding for the Hired Gun Stable and Steve Harrington.
Luke Hanners had a driving triple on the 14-race card.
Racing resumes on Tuesday (December 23) with a post time of 4pm. Free past performance pages are available at hollywooddaytonraceway.com.
For full race results, click here: American trotting results.
By means of Jay Wolf for Hollywood Gaming at Dayton Raceway
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