Pocono: Stonebridge Soul downs favored fillies in Lynch Memorial final

Stonebridge Soul showed speed, watched a duel after yielding the front-end, and rallied up the passing lane to take the $300,000 James M. Lynch Memorial for sophomore pacing fillies on Saturday night at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono, by far the biggest victory of her career.

Driven by Tim Tetrick for trainer Chris Ryder, Stonebridge Soul fired away sharply from post four and reached the opening quarter in 26 seconds flat. Treacherous Reign (Dexter Dunn) was parked through the first quarter and moved up to challenge, though, clearing about three-eighths of the mile in. Treacherous Reign, who won the last major event for this group, the Fan Hanover up at Woodbine Mohawk Park, would hit the half in 54 3/5, with favored Warrawee Ubeaut (Yannick Gingras) moving first-over from fourth at that point.

Treacherous Reign and Warrawee Ubeaut traded blows through the third quarter, reaching three-quarters in 1:21, with Warrawee Ubeaut showing a slim lead on the outside but unable to clear. They remained in lock-step around the final bend as well, with Odds On St Lucie (Corey Callahan) trying a three-wide bid from third-over after second-over Tall Drink Hanover (Andrew McCarthy) stalled and then began to backpedal.

In the stretch the passing lane became available for Tetrick to utilize, and Stonebridge Soul zipped by the battling leaders on her way to the win by three-parts of a length in a career-best 1:49 3/5. Zero Tolerance (David Miller) sat in the three-hole, found room to the outside in the stretch, and was second, with Warrawee Ubeaut fading to third. Odds On St Lucie collected fourth, and Treacherous Reign had to settle for fifth.

"Last week I was very impressed with her," remarked Tetrick. "She grew up a lot from two to three. Chris and the crew have done a great job with her, so my job was pretty easy, just get away close and she did the rest.

"I was liking where I was at the half, but then when Yannick came with Warrawee Ubeaut, I was a little worried that he might pace by Dexter, and then that would have forced my hand a little and made my trip a lot tougher. Luckily, I got stay in the two-hole and Dexter's horse fought him all the way to the top of the lane. That got me right to the passing lane, and my filly got it done."

A daughter of Somebeachsomewhere, Stonebridge Soul is owned by Henderson Farms and Robert Mondillo. This was her sixth career victory, and she has now earned $347,266.

"Everyone's heard the story, I didn't like her training down. She wasn't doing anything that was fast or anything like that, but she started racing obviously, and she's been just excellent," said Ryder. "She's been a little unlucky in Canada, and I was kind of hoping we'd cut it or would be sitting in the two-hole at worst. I thought our best chance was if Yannick didn't make the lead. That's what happened, and we got there. She's always getting herself in the race, and if you look at her lines closely, she's been coming tremendous last halves because she's been getting just out of position a little bit. We were a little confident.

"She has the Mistletoe Shalee at the Meadowlands. I try and go week-to-week and not get too far ahead of myself."

Tetrick also claimed the $50,000 consolation race of the Lynch with Jim King Jr.-trained Rockn Philly, a daughter of A Rocknroll Dance Tetrick co-owns with Jo Ann Looney-King, in 1:49 2/5. Trillions Hanover (D. Miller) was second, followed by Annie Hill (Brian Sears).