Docent figures to dominate Lyman Sprint

Docent, a five-time stakes winner last season and unbeaten in two starts this year, will be heavily favored when he drops from open company to face Pennsylvania-breds in Saturday's $50,000, seven-furlong Lyman Sprint Championship at Philadelphia Park.

Trained by Tim Ritchey, the 5-year-old Docent has reeled off four consecutive triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures, including a 101 in his most recent victory, the Slipton Fell Handicap at Mountaineer Park.

A winner of 11 of 21 lifetime starts, Docent won two stakes at Philly Park last season, including the seven-furlong Devil's Honor Handicap.

Docent's chief rival in the 10-horse field of older sprinters looks like Sumerset. In last year's Iroquois Handicap at Philly Park, Sumerset led for nearly the entire 1 1/16 miles until he was overtaken by Docent just before the wire. This year, however, Sumerset has been off his best form in two races, both over sloppy tracks.