To say that Lyons Legend has been a dominant force in Pennsylvania Sires Stakes (PASS) for three-year-old filly pacers would be an understatement. She’s won all three legs contested thus far and no rival has been closer than a length to her at the finish.
She’ll try to complete her sweep of PASS preliminaries -- and extend her career unbeaten streak to six -- in Thursday’s $162,460 PASS leg at Hollywood Casino at The Meadows. The PASS go as Races 1 and 3 on the 14-race card, which also features a $40,000 PA Stallion Series event for sophomore pacing fillies. First post is 12:45 p.m.
The daughter of Stay Hungry-Skinny Dip -- a $33,000 yearling purchase for Threelyonsracing -- didn’t particularly impress her trainer, Jim King Jr., early this season.
“She never did anything to make you like her; she never did anything to make you dislike her,” said King. ”When she trained down, she was okay, but she didn’t wow me.”
The “wow” factor kicked in when Lyons Legend began to show speed and determination, taking her 1:50.2 mark in a Harrah’s Philadelphia PASS split.
“She’s never been asked to do anything that wasn’t well within her capabilities,” said King. “She never stops going, she’s never had her earplugs pulled. She keeps accelerating at the wire.”
At this point in her career, King compares her favourably to Lyons Sentinel, who won Dan Patch Awards at ages two and four and an O'Brien Award for King and Threelyonsracing.
“This filly can do things Sentinel couldn’t do at the same stage, so we have our hopes. We gave her a mini-break before her last start and it appeared to do her some good body-wise. She seemed to appreciate the rest.”
Yet Lyons Legend can’t be crowned Queen of the Keystone State until she defeats Geocentric (1:49.4M), the undefeated sophomore who’s dually eligible in Pennsylvania and Kentucky. Geocentric contested two of the first three PASS legs, yet through a quirk of the draw, the two top fillies haven’t met. All else being equal, they’ll square off in the Sept. 2 PASS championship at Pocono.
“We’re pretty confident about that race,” said King. “I think we’re on the same level as Geocentric, but that’s my side of the story.”
Lyons Legend will leave from post four in Race 3 with Tim Tetrick aboard.
(Meadows Standardbred Owners Association)