The third edition of the $100,000 Clara Barton Distaff Pace will be contested at Plainridge Park on Sunday (July 25) as the co-feature to the $250,000 Spirit of Massachusetts Trot. The stake has had only one champion during its run and that’s because the great Shartin N won the first two, and in consecutive track record times.

Shartin N, who has since retired, spent her entire North American racing career in the stable of Jim King Jr. And although the pacing queen is not in Massachusetts this year, Jim King is and he’s loaded for bear once again.

King’s top pacing mare this year is Lyons Sentinel, who set a world record for four-year-old female pacers with a 1:48 clocking at the Meadowlands in May. That record has since been broken by JK First Lady with her 1:47.4 effort at the Meadowlands last Saturday (July 17), where Lyons Sentinel finished a very close fourth after an absolutely brutal trip.

This rematch could be one for the ages.

Lyons Sentinel has been coming on strong since early in the year. In her third start in May she won in lifetime best 1:48.2 at the Meadowlands which was her fastest mile since October of 2020. Three weeks later at the Meadowlands she finished third by a length behind Racine Bell, who tied the world record with a 1:48.1 clocking.

“It’s hard to get horses ready for those kinds of miles. She wasn’t over-raced in her first two starts but those races got her ready for that third start and she came out strong and went 1:48.2,” said King.

Then two weeks later she returned to the Meadowlands and broke the world record with a 1:48 mile in a race she dictated from the quarter pole on.

“That night she was fully in race shape and it was time for her to do that and she went a pretty good trip up there. If she ever got a two hole trip I don’t know where she would go. But I’m satisfied with what she’s doing for sure,” said King.

Last week in the Dorothy Haughton Memorial at the Meadowlands Lyons Sentinel finished fourth behind JK First Lady, who won and lowered Lyons Sentinel's world record to 1:47.4. But JK First Lady was able to get a close early position and a good trip. Lyons Sentinel had post 10, was parked out two and three wide the entire mile and still only got beat 2-3/4 lengths. She paced in 1:48.2 with a :26.1 final quarter in a driving rainstorm.

Was that possibly the best race of her career?

“In my opinion it was the mile of her life. It was kind of hard to fault her for that, wasn’t it? In those kinds of races you can’t just float them out there and get a spot, it’s not an overnight. Those races are raced differently and that’s the way it is. They’re raced hard because that’s where the money is and those are the races we all want to win,” said King.

“This week there is a lot of speed in the race but Lyons Sentinel is versatile, so with post three she has options. I expect she has a better chance than most in there. I know they have JK ahead of her morning line but I can’t imagine her going off shorter odds than Sentinel. Those two are going to take the brunt of the money and they’re not going to be too far apart. I think Sentinel went a better trip than the horse that got the money last week, but the fact is...the other one got the money.”

King’s also has Soho Burning Love A in the Barton, but she comes in winless in her last four starts after having a stellar spring

Earlier in the year Soho Burning Love A was on fire, winning three straight races and taking three straight seasonal marks. She won the Blue Chip Matchmaker consolation in a runaway 1:51.4, 7-1/2 length romp that went faster than the final. Then she won back to back starts at Harrah’s Philly and the Meadowlands in 1:50.1 and 1:48.2. At that point she looked like one of the best mares of the season. But subsequent starts didn’t go as well.

“She has some trouble with breathing and when she goes a trip that goes too fast to the half like the :53.4 clip at Harrah’s a few weeks ago, she surrenders. And most horses don’t get over that quickly. She’s kind of fragile anyway and although she’s very fast, she’s not very forgiving when you have to race her very hard,” said King.

“She’s so much better when she gets a break in the mile. When she went that trip at Yonkers she was at the top of her game. That’s why she won her next couple of starts easily because of the way they went. When she gets away poorly or from an outside post, she can come from behind and beat lesser horses. But she can’t in those kinds of fields.”

Soho Burning Love A starts from post one on Sunday and should benefit from a lot of speed in front of her and King thinks she’s in the perfect spot.

“I fully expect to get paid; I think she’ll be good. And if she prevailed, it certainly wouldn’t come as a surprise to me. I don’t expect her to, but if everything falls into place for her, she’s good enough to finish the job.

“Both mares trained up good and we’re a long way from home, but that’s the way it is and we’ve managed to make that trip before and make it work.”

King also reflected on his champion Shartin N had and said she was incomparable.

“So far we’re undefeated in this race, with Shartin winning the first two. I’ve got two girls here this year that are nice girls, but they’re not Shartin. Shartin was few and far between. She was really, really special.”

The $250,000 Spirit of Massachusetts Trot is on Sunday (July 25) with post time for the first race set at 2:00 p.m. The card is also highlighted with the $100,000 Clara Barton Distaff Pace and the $50,900 Bert Beckwith Memorial Pace and with total purses totaling in excess of $500,000, it’s the biggest day of harness racing in Massachusetts this year.

(Plainridge Park)