Beach Patrol wins a thriller in the Secretariat Stakes

Beach Patrol, a three-year-old colt sired by Lemon Drop Kid, dueled with Long Island Sound for most of the stretch, and held on gamely to win the 40th running of the Grade I $400,000 Secretariat Stakes by a head at Arlington.

Chalk another major Grade 1 turf win for trainer Chad Brown. The Secretariat was one of the few turf stakes races missing from Brown’s resume, Beach Patrol took care of that today in scoring his first stakes win. Off as the favorite at 5-2, Beach Patrol broke well from post position nine under jockey Florent Geroux, but it was the 73-1 longshot Scissors and Tape who went to the lead. Long Island Sound and Beach Patrol followed, and as the field passed the finish line for the first time, it was jockey Shaun Bridgmohan and Scissors and Tape who would try and steal this race on the front end.

After a first quarter in 24.59, the field moved in to the backstretch and Scissors and Tape had a length on Long Island Sound, it was two lengths back to Beach Patrol. Racing in fourth was One Mean Man, as he, along with Oscar Nominated, Surgical Strike, and American Patriot, were the next group, separated by only a length and a half.

As the field made their way to the mile marker in 1:37.52, Jockey Seamie Heffernan and Long Island Sound made their move for the lead as the early longshot leader started to fade. Beach Patrol went with the Kentucky-bred son of War Front, and these two turned for home with Beach Patrol holding a narrow head advantage. Long Island Sound battled back on the rail, and from the eighth pole to the wire it was a battle. Beach Patrol held the head lead, but Long Island Sound was game and never gave in losing by a head. It was three quarters of a length back to American Patriot who rallied well from seventh to be third, One Mean Man was fourth.

Beach Patrol, who races for James Covello, Sheep Pond Partners and Head of Plains Partners, improved his record to three wins in eight starts. Third last time out in the Gr1 Belmont Derby, three-quarters of a length in front of Long Island Sound, Beach Patrol banked $261,900 and moved his earnings to $526,970. After the race Florent Geroux talked about his mount's heart in the win saying, “Broke good there from the gate, I was able to stalk and when I asked him to go he was very brave. [Long Island Sound] didn’t give it up, and [Beach Patrol] showed a lot of heart”.

Chad Brown, who took over the training of Beach Patrol three races back after an ownership change, talked about his horse and the trip saying, “Florent rode a beautiful race from a difficult post. The horse has been training really well. I want to thank Sol Kumin and James Covello, the other partners that put up the money to buy him – their patience. His first start didn’t go so well, they didn’t worry about it, they were in it for the long term and it paid off today.”

Beach Patrol returned 7.60, 3.80, and 3.00. Long Island Sound returned 4.40 and 3.00, while American Patriot returned 3.00 for the show.  The remaining order of finish was One Mean Man, Oscar Nominated, Cordon, Surgical Strike, Cherry Wine, and Scissors and Tape. Final time for the mile and a quarter distance was 2:01.95.