Meantime breezes for possible run in Belmont Stakes 2017

Silverton Hill's Grade 3 Peter Pan runner-up Meantime breezed Saturday morning for a possible run in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes for trainer Brian Lynch.

Meantime, a speedy colt by 2011 Preakness winner Shackleford, worked five furlongs in company with Basic Hero, a 4-year-old maiden. The pair worked together through the first three-eighths, going 35 1/5 seconds, before Meantime pulled away from his workmate. He completed the work in 59.98 seconds under jockey Mike Luzzi, and galloped out six furlongs in 1:13, according to NYRA clockers.

"I saw what I wanted to see, it was a nice, comfortable work," Lynch said of the move. "Mike's body language was very relaxed, he just looked like a passenger. He didn't look like he had to ask him at any stage. I wanted to have someone following him a little bit so he can get used to getting put under a bit of pressure. Mike said he was totally relaxed in the work and did it totally in hand. He did it well within himself."

While under consideration for the Belmont, Lynch noted that Meantime is also eligible for the $150,000 Easy Goer on the June 10 Belmont Stakes undercard. Meantime is scheduled to breeze again next Saturday, said Lynch. He added that should Meantime run in the Belmont, Manny Franco is expected to have the mount. 

"I'm not going to run in it just for the sake of running in it," he said. "We've got the Easy Goer that day too, so I want to be sure. His next work will really tell me. Up until then, I'm still on the fence."

Lynch also breezed 2016 Sovereign Award Champion Sprinter Noholdingback Bear and Grade 2 Raven Run winner Lightstream five furlongs in company for their respective Belmont Stakes Racing Festival assignments.

Noholdingback Bear, on target for the Grade 2, $250,000 True North, broke off ahead of Lightstream, aimed at the Grade 3, $250,000 Bed o' Roses Invitational. The pair covered three furlongs in 35 3/5 seconds and Lightstream drew ahead of her workmate to cover the distance in 59.77 under Javier Castellano.

Noholdingback Bear, who ran second to Stallwalkin' Dude in the Diablo on May 7, his first start for Lynch, went in 1:00.12.

"He's the ultimate professional, he doesn't do more than he has to," said Lynch. "I wanted to give Lightstream a target to run at because she's kind of been a one-run, come-from-behind filly. Last time, the big picture was getting a race back into him, letting him show us that we're on the right track with him. I think he's come on a lot from that race, and I think he'll probably put himself in the race a little earlier next time and not give himself as much work to do."

A 4-year-old filly by Harlan's Holiday, Lightstream won the seven-furlong Soaring Softly on the turf last year and followed up with a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Mother Goose at 1 1/16 miles on the dirt in her only two previous starts at Belmont. She made her first start of the year on a sloppy and sealed track Humana Distaff at Churchill Downs on the Kentucky Oaks undercard, where she finished fifth.

"She really needed her last start," said Lynch. "It was a tough group of really solid older mares and she probably wasn't 100 percent ready going in there and she caught a nasty off track. I don't think it suited her style; it was favoring speed horses that day, but she made a move and got tired the last part, but she came out of the race good. She had a really nice work the other day with Noholdingback Bear and then today, I thought that was really good.