Belichick scores first career win in Breeders'; Mighty Heart seventh in Triple Crown bid

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The late-blooming Belichick graduated in style at Woodbine Saturday in the $401,200 Breeders’ Stakes, after stablemate Mighty Heart was softened up in a speed duel in his quest to sweep the Canadian Triple Crown.

Mighty Heart, the one-eyed Queen’s Plate and Prince of Wales winner, broke on top under Daisuke Fukumoto before being joined up front by longshot Kunal through suicidal fractions in the 1 1/2-mile turf marathon.

Belichick, with Luis Contreras aboard, bided his time about 10 lengths off the lead early on the backstretch and then made his way into contention on the far turn to join Mighty Heart and Told It All on the lead.

Belichick came wide off the turn to take control in the stretch, and then cruised to a four-length victory in a time of 2:32.51 over the “good” ground. He now has a 1-2-1 record from four career starts.

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Meyer, a 54-1 bomb making his second start off a $40,000 claim, rallied wide for second, finishing three lengths clear of the 12-1 supplement English Conqueror. Deviant wound up fourth, and was followed by Clayton, Enchant Me, Mighty Heart, Muskoka Giant, Told It All, Glorious Tribute, and Kunal.

“They went quick early, so I tried to relax my horse as much as I could,” said Contreras, who won his third Breeders’. “He has a different style. He’s never on the right lead. I just let him be happy wherever he wanted to be. Turning for home, I was just in hand all the way to the quarter pole, and I asked him to run from the stretch home.”

It was the second Breeders’ score for trainer Josie Carroll, who bypassed the Prince of Wales at Fort Erie with Belichick after the son of Lemon Drop Kid finished a bang-up second in the Plate.

“The Queen’s Plate was a breakout race for him,” Carroll recalled. “We couldn’t come back that quickly in the Prince of Wales Stakes. A horse needs a little time to regroup from something like that, a young, inexperienced horse, and regroup he did.”

A $300,000 Keeneland September yearling sale purchase, Belichick returned $8.70 as the third choice. He earned $240,000 for the partnership of NK Racing and LNJ Foxwoods.