Lyons Sentinel shatters Canadian record in 'Great Lady'

MILTON, ON – Lyons Sentinel entered the Canadian harness racing record books with a stunning 1:49.3 victory in Saturday’s $540,000 Shes A Great Lady for two-year-old pacing fillies.

The daughter of Captaintreacherous converted off a two-hole trip to win for driver Tim Tetrick and trainer Jim King Jr. in a Stakes, Track and Canadian Record time.

“She’s done things we didn’t think could be done,” said King Jr. post-race. “About time she walked in my barn I could tell she was really special.”

The $540,000 contest carried the storyline of a showdown between impressive elimination winners Alicorn and Lyons Sentinel. The fillies didn’t disappoint, sitting one-two from start to finish.

Alicorn and driver Louis Philippe Roy blasted from post-five and hung up an opening-quarter of :26.4, while Lyons Sentinel followed in second. Reflect With Me got away third and hugged the rail for most of the mile.

After a second-quarter breather of :28.4, Alicorn faced pressure from Somebeachsometime, who had been parked every step of the mile after starting from post-nine. Peaky Sneaky failed to stay with the first-up challenger while in a second-over position, which left room for Tetrick to slide off the rail at three-quarters with Lyons Sentinel.

Alicorn went into sprint mode after reaching three-quarters in 1:23.1, but Lyons Sentinel was too much to handle. The King Jr. trainee stormed by powerfully in :26 to win by half a length. Alicorn finished second, while Reflect With Me couldn’t find room up the rail in the stretch and settled for third over JK First Lady.

“I just didn’t want to give Roy too much space,” said Tetrick. “I didn’t want to give him three or four lengths and get the half cheap and take off from me, so I put her on the back and I took a chance of getting locked in, but it all worked out.”

A $55,000 Harrisburg yearling purchase, Lyons Sentinel has stamped herself as harness racing’s top two-year-old pacing filly for owners Threelyonsracing. The Captaintreacherous filly has now won five in a row and is six for nine on the season with $562,330 earned.

Lyons Sentinel’s record mile broke the previous Canadian record of 1:50.1, which she matched in last week’s elimination. The now-fastest two-year-old filly in Canadian racing history returned $3.40 for a $2 win ticket.