Party Girl Hill remains undefeated; Lyons Sentinel soars in Breeders Crown 3-year-old filly pace eliminations
October 23, 2020, by Kimberly French, for the Breeders Crown
Anderson, IN — After throwing down a :25.1 final quarter, Party Girl Hill (Dexter Dunn) kept her perfect record intact after tripping the timer in 1:50.1 in the first of two $25,000 Breeders Crown eliminations for 3-year-old pacing fillies at Harrah’s Hoosier Park on Friday (Oct. 23). Lyons Sentinel (Tim Tetrick) made a late bid to hit the wire in front in 1:49.4 in the second elimination.
Party Girl Hill coasted along in third as Peaky Sneaky (Yannick Gingras) held the lead right from the start and Rocknificent (Scott Zeron) tracked in second. Sneaky Peaky set fractions of :25.4, :56.3 and 1:24.3, and shortly after they rounded the final turn in the mile, Party Girl Hill was given her cue. The daughter of Captaintreacherous and Rocklamation bore down on the leader and passed a valiant Peaky Sneaky to improve her resume to 14-14-0-0 and her bankroll to more than $745,000. Drama Act (Matt Kakaley) got up for third, with Rocknificent coming home fourth. Pettycoat Business (Trace Tetrick) collected the last spot in the $500,000 final next Saturday (Oct. 31).
Trained by Chris Ryder, Party Girl Hill competes as a homebred for owner Tom Hill. The winner paid $2.20.
“She’s a phenomenal filly,” Ryder said. “I feel confident going into next weekend, although there are some tremendous horses here. She has many qualities. She’s got class. She’s got speed and she can relax. She’s got it all. She is versatile and takes everything that comes at her. I think not racing her last year helped her. She is doing as well as a horse can do this year. She only has the Matron left (after the Breeders Crown final), but we haven’t talked about it whether she will race in it.”
Lyons Sentinel was allowed to float off the gate as Hen Party (Andrew McCarthy) went straight to the front. After Hen Party led the field of seven through the first quarter mile in a sizzling :25.2, Priceless (Andy Miller) was hot on her hooves, as was Baby Your The Best (David Miller). Miller decided it was time for Priceless to set the fractions and pulled her, placing Hen Party in the pocket. The Indiana champion set standards of :55.2 and 1:23.3 before the other fillies came to her as they hit the stretch.
JK First Lady assumed command in mid-stretch and seemed to be home free as Priceless faded. That’s when Lyons Sentinel was just gearing up. Loaded with pace, the filly had been sitting in sixth for most of the mile but moved into fourth turning for home. After catching JK First Lady, Lyons Sentinel dueled with that rival before putting her away in late stretch. New Year (Dunn) passed Hen Party, who was fourth, to be third. Lady Lou (Joe Bongiorno) nailed down the final spot in the final, finishing fifth.
A daughter of Captaintreacherous and Tutu Hanover, Lyons Sentinel was the slight favorite over JK First Lady and returned $3.60. She is trained by Jim King Jr. and owned by Threelyonsracing.
