Leading trainer John O'Shea, who learned his craft under the master gaze of Bart Cummings, knows a good horse when he sees one and he's convinced that three-year-old Lightinthenite is just that.

The strapping son of champion European stallion Galileo has won his only two starts in exciting fashion and O'Shea believes he can measure up to stakes company over the carnival.

His latest success was at Randwick last Wednesday when he handled the steep class rise from a Newcastle maiden to a benchmark 75 with aplomb, charging home from midfield with a brilliant turn of foot.

Lightinthenite will line up next in the Listed South Pacific Classic at Randwick on April 16 and one senses that O'Shea is looking forward to the challenge.

"He's a very, very nice horse and it's a credit to him because that was a massive jump in grade," O'Shea said.

"He had to overcome some adversity too and was strong to the line, so it all looks good."

"We'll take him home and see how he feels and then we might have a throw at the stumps over the carnival before we give him a break."

Jockey Christian Reith was equally glowing in his assessment of the handsome chestnut and predicted he would only get better with experience.

"I knew that as soon as I let him go he'd show that explosive dash that he's got, and that's what he did."

"He's still very raw. He's doing it all on raw ability."

"This horse is just going to go on in leaps and bounds now."

Lightinthenite is raced by a syndicate of Champion Thoroughbreds who purchased him for $77,000 as a weanling at the Magic Millions in 2008.

His dam, Tiffin, is a daughter of Grand Lodge from the very good producer Discriminate.

Discriminate, by Golden Slipper winnner Marauding, has produced the stakes winning siblings Happen and Major, both of whom are by Zeditave.

This is an obvious source of Lightinthenite's fleet-footedness as Discriminate herself was a very speedy juvenile. She was runner-up to Klokka in the 1992 G2 Magic Night Stakes and then ran third behind top fillies Flitter and Slight Chance in the Keith Mackay Handicap.