Plainridge: Lyons Sentinel successfully defends Clara Barton Distaff Pace title

Driver Tim Tetrick and trainer Jim King Jr. won their fourth straight edition of the $100,000 Clara Barton Distaff Pace for mares on Monday afternoon at Plainridge Park, as Lyons Sentinel joined former Horse of the Year Shartin N as a two-time winner of the event.

Racine Bell, driven by Mark MacDonald as Jason Bartlett elected to stay and compete on tonight's card at Yonkers, led through fractions of 26, 55 1/5, and 1:22, with Lyons Sentinel going first-over out of third heading to the half and moving into second past that marker.

Lyons Sentinel and Racine Bell battled into the lane, but Lyons Sentinel finally dispatched Racine Bell in the upper part of the stretch and then edged clear to defeat Gia's Surreal (Greg Metron) by 2 1/4 lengths in 1:50 2/5. Racine Bell held third over Blue Diamond Eyes (Yannick Gingras).

"I wanted to get away third or fourth. I just wanted to make sure the pace was honest enough up front," said Tetrick. "I love coming up here. It's been pretty good for me."

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King Jr. trains Lyons Sentinel, a 5-year-old daughter of Captaintreacherous, for owner Threelyonsracing. She has a record of 25-14-5 from 54 lifetime starts, pushed her earnings to $2,118,076, and paid $3.40 to win as the 3-5 favorite.

"They're both just really, really good mares. Shartin was special, but there's nothing wrong with this one. She's a good girl, too," remarked King Jr. "We're lined up for all the Grand Circuit races. Hopefully like she's done before, once she takes off, she does it to the end."