Lightstream convinces trainer she's the real thing

ELMONT, N.Y. – Lightstream’s last-to-first victory in Saturday’s $100,000 Soaring Softly Stakes on turf not only kept the filly undefeated but gave trainer Brian Lynch plenty to think about when plotting out the rest of the 3-year-old filly’s year.

Lightstream hit the side of the gate at the break but circled the field to win the seven-furlong Soaring Softly by a half-length.

“Only good ones do that – come from where she came from,” Lynch said Monday.

Prior to that race, Lightstream had gone 2 for 2 on dirt, including winning the Grade 3 Beaumont at Keeneland. All of her races have been at seven furlongs.

Lynch said he is considering either the Grade 1, $300,000 Mother Goose going 1 1/16 miles on dirt or the Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Oaks going 1 1/4 miles on turf for Lightstream.

His first inclination was to run her in the Mother Goose on July 2, noting that horses who are targeting the Grade 1 Acorn on June 11, such as Cathryn Sophia, Carina Mia, and Go Maggie Go, would be unlikely to run back in that race.

“Or you might get invited to the $1 million Belmont Oaks,” Lynch said. “I’ve got a gut feeling the way she settles when you want her to, she could probably get a mile and a quarter. For a million bucks, I’d give you a million reasons why I’d like to try.”

Meanwhile, Lynch said he was very happy with Grand Arch’s performance in Saturday’s Grade 2 Dixie at Pimlico, where he finished third, beaten three-quarters of a length by the winner, Takeover Target. Grand Arch was making his first start since running third in the Breeders’ Cup Mile last Oct. 31 at Keeneland.

The Dixie was run over “good” turf after morning and early-afternoon showers.

“He’s a big horse,” Lynch said. “He gets into those heavy tracks, he’s entitled to get a bit tired. A mile and a sixteenth off a layoff, as big as he is and as heavy as he is, that probably got to him a bit in the end, too.”

Lynch said he is targeting the Fourstardave at Saratoga on Aug. 13 and the Shadwell Mile at Keeneland, typically in October, both races Grand Arch won last year. Lynch said the Poker at Belmont on June 18 or the Forbidden Apple here July 16 are possibilities for Grand Arch’s next start.