Clement pair should like seven furlongs of the Soaring Softly

None of the 11 3-year-old fillies in Saturday’s $100,000 Soaring Softly Stakes at Belmont have competed at the seven-furlong distance of the Grade 3 event on turf. The Christophe Clement-trained duo of Hit the Woah and Bye Bye both seem like suitable candidates for the trip.

Hit the Woah came wide from fourth to finish a close third in her first turf start in the one-mile Sanibel Island Stakes following a short layoff on March 27 at Gulfstream. She’s since worked extensively on the Payson Park turf and will have Junior Alvarado aboard. Over the past five years, Clement had a 26 percent strike rate with turnbacks on the grass.

Bye Bye graduated second time out at Gulfstream in a five-furlong maiden-special on March 21, when she earned an 81 Beyer Speed Figure in her turf debut. The daughter of leading sire Into Mischief is bred to be a miler and should be forwardly placed after breaking from the outside under Eric Cancel.

Stretch-runner Tobys Heart could be favored, even though seven-eighths might not be her cup of tea. The daughter of Jack Milton is a two-time stakes winner over 5 1/2 furlongs, the same distance over which she graduated at first asking at Churchill Downs. She faded to sixth after making a bid in her only other outing going 1 1/16 miles in the Grade 3 Herecomesthebride at Gulfstream. Manny Franco rides her for trainer Brian Lynch.

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Trainer Mark Casse entered Sleek Lynx and La Libertee, who was a troubled seventh in the Sanibel Island after winning an allowance dash at Gulfstream.

Casse said he likes the distance for the well-bred Sleek Lynx, a daughter of War Front and Grade 1 Canadian International winner Sarah Lynx. A maiden winner over six furlongs at Woodbine, she was third going 1 1/16 miles in the slow-paced Memories of Silver Stakes on April 18 at Aqueduct.

“There should be more pace,” Casse said. “She actually ran better in her last start than it looks.”

Trainer Graham Motion sends out Candace O and Invincible Gal.

Candace O graduated over about 7 1/2 furlongs on Dec. 30 at Gulfstream before ending up fourth there in the Grade 3 Sweetest Chant. She’s coming off a third in the Bourbonette Oaks on the synthetic Tapeta surface at Turfway.

Invincible Gal has been idle since Nov. 29, when she was a wide-closing second in the 1 1/16-mile Tepin Stakes at Aqueduct. She also filled out the exacta in both the Sorority and Selima stakes going long.

Rounding out the field are Can’t Buy Love, No Ordinary Time, Lexinator, and Star Devine.

The Soaring Softly goes as the 10th of 11 races at 5:52 p.m.