After being beaten out of sight in her last two races over sprint distances, Lightning Lily tested a distance of ground – seven and a half furlongs (1,500m) – on Saturday, and scored a fighting win to signal a return to form.

Lightning Lily had finished in ninth and sixth positions over five furlongs (1,000m) straight and six furlongs (1,200m), respectively, but this time the bay filly made no mistake when she outpaced Blue Tradition and Dontae to win by three parts of a length.

“I think that she ran a very good race to get home today (Saturday). This is the first time she has been stretched out over a distance of ground and she did well. She is bred to go long, and so the distance was never in question,” trainer Philip Feanny said after the race.

Within a few strides after leaving the starting gates, Lightning Lily was up and running for the lead with A.P.I. (Wesley Henry), tracked by Simply Outrageous (Anthony Thomas) and Dontae (Dick Cardenas) approaching the five-furlong (1000m) marker.

Pressured by Dontae and Simply Outrageous around the half-mile (800m), Lightning Lily was able to bring the field into the lane, at which time the bay filly then shook off the challenge of Dontae a furlong and half out, but had to withstand a late surge from Blue Tradition (O’Brien White), who had crept up on the inside rails.

The time for the event was clocked at 1:32.3. Lightning Lily, owned by Lakeland Farms Limited, won at odds of 13-1.

Jockey Paul Francis said that victory was far from being an upset.

“The performance was very good as she did what she had to do to win the race. She is a nice filly and she will improve. This horse trained well coming into the race, and being bred to get the distance, I was never in doubt of her winning, especially with 110 pounds,” Francis said.