Freehold, NJ — For Lyons Steel, a trip to Freehold Raceway is the equivalent of Clark Kent stepping into a phone booth. Away from Freehold, he’s a solid mid/upper-level conditioned pacer. At Freehold, however, he’s a beast. He won Freehold’s featured race on Saturday (Jan. 30), going a huge mile to do so.

Bettors knew about Lyons Steel’s love of Freehold, and sent him off as the 1-5 favorite in a non-winners of $8,000 last five pace. Leaving from post position five, driver Eric Abbatiello left quickly with him, but three horses to his direct inside also wanted the lead. He was four-wide for almost the entire opening quarter, while going that fraction in a blazing :27.1.

Heading around the second turn, Lyons Steel finally cleared to the lead and dropped to the inside. He went by the half-mile in :56.2, a much-needed breather after that fast opening quarter. If he backed up after that grueling early tempo, no one could blame him.

However, Lyons Steel never really stopped. Pocket-sitting The Rev loomed large turning for home, and Betting Exchange, Vasari N, and Alberto Contador N all made solid rallies, but Lyons Steel held them all off and won by 1-1/4 lengths. The final time was 1:56.

This win marked Lyons Steel’s fourth victory in his last five races at Freehold. Since August of 2019, he’s won 10 times from 24 starts at this track.

Live racing resumes at Freehold on Friday (Feb. 5) starting at 12:30 p.m. Racing at Freehold will be held every Friday and Saturday until May 29.