East Rutherford, NJ — Driver Tim Tetrick commandeered his competition with the 4-year-old Captaintreacherous mare Lyons Sentinel and delivered as the 4-5 favorite in the $160,000 Artiscape Pace, lowering the track and world record in the process on Saturday (July 3) at The Meadowlands.

Lyons Sentinel and driver Tim Tetrick won the Artiscape Pace. Lisa photo.

Floating off the car in a five-horse charge for the lead, Lyons Sentinel landed on the point past a :26 first quarter, pocketing Rocknificent with JK First Lady settling into third and Gia’s Surreal fourth. The Jim King Jr. trainee rolled to the half in :54.3 and readied for first-over pressure as Gia’s Surreal edged off the pegs from fourth.

But once Lyons Sentinel clipped three-quarters in 1:21.4, she scooted away from her competition. She strolled through the stretch to win by 1-1/2 lengths while stopping the clock in 1:48, eclipsing the track and world record of 1:48.1 for a 4-year-old pacing mare on a mile track originally set by My Little Dragon in 2007. Gia’s Surreal finished second and JK First Lady took third.

Lyons Sentinel, a winner of 14 races from 35 starts and $1.3 million for owner Threelyonsracing, entered the Artiscape off back-to-back defeats against the breakout mare Racine Bell — their most recent encounter coincidentally a record-equaling mile of 1:48.1 in the $50,000 Kissin In The Sand final. Jo Ann Looney-King, wife of trainer Jim King Jr., said in the winner’s circle following the race that her mare is ready for a rematch.

“Oh we’ll take her on; we’ll beat her,” Looney-King said. “There’s no doubt. She’s a good horse; we’ll beat her.”

Aside from their brewing rivalry with Racine Bell, Looney-King said their mare is game for her division’s stakes engagements through the remainder of the season.

“We’re going to get to them all,” she said. “As long as she stays healthy and sound, we’ll be there.”

Lyons Sentinel returned $3.80 to win.

This Is The Plan and driver Yannick Gingras won the first division of the Roll With Joe. Lisa photo.

With more than $2 million to his credit and a world record on his card, This Is The Plan had only one win from 16 starts at The Meadowlands. But thanks to a patient Yannick Gingras steer landing him in a prime striking spot, the 6-year-old Somebeachsomewhere gelding nabbed his second ‘Big M’ victory in the $113,000 first division of the Roll With Joe.

Gingras floated the speedy Ron Burke trainee to race sixth past a :25.4 first quarter set by Workin Ona Mystery before Angers Bayama vacated the cones from third to seize command. Once on the point, Angers Bayama cruised past a :53.2 half as Captain Barbossa, the slight 8-5 choice over This Is The Plan, tipped first over for the far-turn drive.

Captain Barbossa crept closer to Angers Bayama approaching three-quarters in 1:22. Gingras meanwhile started to tip This Is The Plan to the center of the course and hit another gear with open road, downing Angers Bayama and a resurgent Workin Ona Mystery as that pair finished in a dead heat for second, a head back in a 1:48.2 mile.

“Usually he’s good out of a two hole, but I really couldn’t see looking at a program a nice two hole or somebody I really wanted to sit behind in that spot,” Gingras said after the race. “So I figured I could maybe follow Dex (Dunn and Captain Barbossa). We got lucky and it worked out tonight.”

The victory — No. 18 from 80 starts — bolstered This Is The Plan’s bankroll to $2.2 million for owners Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi, J&T Silva-Purnel & Libby and Lawrence Karr. He paid $5.40 to win.

Captain Kirk and driver Scott Zeron won the second division of the Roll With Joe. Lisa photo.

Captain Kirk capitalized off a quick pace set by stubborn speedsters and catapulted past the field to take the $111,500 second division of the Roll With Joe.

Stars Align A sprinted for the lead to a :26 opening quarter with Beaumond Hanover protecting position for the pocket and 4-5 favorite Backstreet Shadow landing in third. He settled at the pylons briefly before launching a blitz after the lead, but Stars Align A kept him parked to a :52.4 half in front of a strung-out field.

The tempo slowed and the field reeled in the tiring leaders to three-quarters in 1:20.2, with Warrawee Vital the first to pounce for the lead. Beaumond Hanover then shot through a seam at the pylons to take the top all while driver Scott Zeron sent Captain Kirk to the center of the track and blasted off, swooping to the front in the final strides to win by a length in 1:47.4. Warrawee Vital held third.

“He has a really good burst for home consistently, so I was just hoping I could get close enough at the three-quarter pole and turned out we did,” Zeron said after the race. “He’s only had a few starts from a long layoff, and the Luthers prepped him back. He was really strong last week finishing, and that’s all I wanted from that win.”

A 4-year-old stallion by Captaintreacherous purchased earlier in the year by Greg Luther’s Black Magic Racing LLC, Captain Kirk collected his sixth victory from 28 starts and pushed his earnings over the $300,000 plateau. He paid $16.80 to win.

A Little More: Gingras led the driver colony taking two of the five stakes events on the program (both for trainer Ron Burke) and finished the night with three winners overall. Brett Pelling led the trainers with three winner’s circle visits.

The 20-cent Pick-5, which took in $84,529 of action, paid $4,788 after the sequence started with 12-1 and 14-1 shots in races one and two.

All-source wagering totaled $3,067,971, marking the 26th time during 2021 that Saturday wagering topped the $3 million mark from 27 programs.

Racing resumes Friday at 6:20 p.m.

— Dave Little also contributed to this story