Lightstream looking for revenge in Test

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The first three finishers from last month’s 1 1/16-mile Mother Goose at Belmont Park – Off the Tracks, Lewis Bay, and Lightstream – will meet again at seven furlongs in Saturday’s Grade 1 Test Stakes at Saratoga.

Making her fourth start, Lightstream suffered her first loss in the Grade 1 Mother Goose. She was beaten 4 1/2 lengths by Off the Tracks and a length by Lewis Bay. But trainer Brian Lynch is confident that Lightstream can turn the tables on both rivals while turning back in distance for the Test.

Lynch said he thought Lightstream was not “100 percent in proper condition” going into the Mother Goose. Lightstream blew out three furlongs in an easy 36 seconds here Wednesday under jockey Joel Rosario and looked very sharp.

“With all the rain this weekend, we all missed some works we had scheduled, and I felt blowing her out a little three-eighths this morning to open up her carburetors would be perfect, and she did it very easily with Joel,” Lynch said. “I make no excuses for her on Saturday.”

Lightstream, Lewis Bay, and Off the Tracks will break adjacent to one another in posts 5, 6, and 7 in the eight-horse field for the Test. The remainder of the field is Paola Queen (post 1), One True Kiss (2), potential favorite Kareena (3), Malibu Stacy (4), and Kinsley Kisses (8).

The Test, for 3-year-old fillies, is one of five stakes on Saturday, including the Grade 1 Whitney and three stakes on the grass – the Grade 3 Waya and the restricted Lure and De La Rose.

Grade 1 winners Ball Dancing and Photo Call are among the 10 fillies and mares entered to go 1 1/2 miles in the Waya. Ball Dancing is seeking her first victory since capturing the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley over yielding ground at Keeneland in the spring of 2015, having failed to hit the board in four subsequent starts. Photo Call, the winner of the Grade 1 Rodeo Drive last fall at Santa Anita, captured the Grade 3 Orchid this spring at Gulfstream Park.

Lynch will also be in action earlier Saturday when he sends out the 2-year-old Brooklyn Bobby for his much-anticipated career debut in a 1 1/16-mile maiden race on the grass. Brooklyn Bobby, named after the legendary trainer Bobby Frankel, is thought to be the first horse sired by European champion Frankel to run in the U.S. Brooklyn Bobby is out of the mare Balance, who is a half-sister to 2010 Horse of the Year Zenyatta.

“I’m excited to run a horse with a pedigree like his,” said Lynch. “He’s obviously come over with a lot of hype. The 2-year-olds by Frankel have already shown to be very precocious horses, and I’m expecting to see a big effort out of him. We’ve worked him against some very good older horses like Grand Arch to get a feel for him, and he’s held his own. I’m quietly confident his class and pedigree will show up on Saturday.”