Soleil Volant showed last fall that he’s a stakes horse, while Talbingo is on the fast track to becoming one, but it’s in a second-level allowance, the fifth race Thursday at Keeneland, that those two meet. Carded for 1 1/8 miles on turf, the Thursday feature drew eight entrants, all of whom carry 118 pounds, and the morning line sets Talbingo the 6-5 favorite. That number feels too short given the competitive makeup of this field – but since Brian Lynch trains Talbingo, perhaps it falls in the right range. Lynch in 2026 easily could surpass the career year he had during 2025. He’s on pace for 73 winners, 10 more than last season, and among his 22 victories through April 19, Lynch has gone 8 for 17 in turf stakes. He’s 17 for 60 with all his turf runners this year, a strike rate of 28 percent that has produced a $2.78 ROI. Lynch also owns Talbingo, who didn’t debut until two days before he turned 4 and ran in a $25,000 maiden-claimer first out. That was stealing. Talbingo won by five, had a successful run over Gulfstream’s Tapeta course, turned in his only poor race last November over Churchill’s dirt track, and this winter proved himself an adept grass horse. On Jan. 31, Talbingo cleared his first allowance condition with a three-length win, and on March 28 missed a second-level allowance tally by a nose. Talbingo has plenty of route speed but wound up eighth through the early and middle stages of that 7 1/2-furlong contest, his fast finish falling just short. :: Keeneland Spring Meet! Get DRF Past Performances, picks, news, and more. “It was a bit of a strange ride, since he’s usually forwardly placed and was out the back door,” Lynch said. Thursday’s race lacks pace, and Talbingo might even lead. “He had a sharp work the other day, and he’s going to be right with the pace or making the pace,” Lynch said. While Talbingo, a gelded son of Classic Empire, never has raced beyond 1 1/16 miles, but Lynch has confidence he’ll stay Thursday’s 1 1/8-mile trip and beyond. “I think the farther he runs, the better he’ll be,” Lynch said. “He’s a horse I’d like to campaign toward Kentucky Downs.” Five horses make their first start following a winter break, while 6-year-old Clyde’s Got a Gun – fast enough to win, but win-shy – got in a dull prep race March 20 at Turfway Park. Soleil Volant hasn’t started since Nov. 8, when trouble into the first turn of the Grade 3 Hill Prince at Aqueduct put him too far behind a tepid tempo: Soleil Volant’s field-best 11.54 final furlong only netted him a competitive sixth. The Hill Prince followed the Kent Stakes, both at 1 1/8 miles. Run over a boggy Delaware Park course, Soleil Volant got up by a nose in the Kent, his first race without blinkers. Trainer Graham Motion believes maturation and natural improvement, more than an equipment change, boosted Soleil Volant’s form at the end of his 3-year-old campaign. “These Karakonties,” Motion said, referring to Soleil Volant’s sire, “they can take some time to come around. He needed the blinkers when he was younger; he didn’t need them anymore. The horse has improved so much. I would not have thought this time last year he was this kind of horse.” That improvement has carried through the winter and into spring. Soleil Volant has worked regularly – including a recent Keeneland breeze – with the multiple Grade 1 winner Test Score. Motion said Test Score isn’t a great work horse, but nonetheless, Soleil Volant regularly has bested him, breezing better than ever before. The morning line prices Soleil Volant at 4-1. Maybe that’s a little high. Soleil Volant might still be worth a play. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.