Lynch has Busanda contender in Discreet Sister

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – With Our Braintrust no longer in his care, trainer Cal Lynch will not have a starter in Saturday’s $250,000 Withers Stakes. However, the Maryland-based conditioner plans to be in action Sunday at Aqueduct, when he starts Discreet Sister in the $100,000 Busanda Stakes for 3-year-old fillies.

Discreet Sister, a daughter of Discreet Cat, is coming off a first-level allowance win on Dec. 16 at Laurel. She was equipped with blinkers that day, but Lynch believes stretching out from six furlongs to a mile was key.

Lynch said the blinkers “helped, but the distance helped more than anything. It was the first time getting to stretch out. . . . Longer the better.”

Prior to the allowance win, Discreet Sister finished ninth of 10 in the Blue Mountain Juvenile Fillies at Penn National.

“She bobbled and got slammed coming out of the gate,” Lynch said. “We didn’t beat her up too hard that night. It wasn’t going to happen; the jockey took good care of her.”

A large field is expected for the Busanda, which offers 17 Kentucky Oaks qualifying points to its top four finishers (10-4-2-1).

Alphabetically, the field is expected to include Afleet Destiny, Always Shopping, Discreet Sister, Filly Joel, Elegant Zip, Floss Dancer, Getting Warmer, Lady Banba, Miss Marilyn, No Mo Lady, and South of France.