As far as a pace setup goes, it was a perfect one for jockey Jose Lezcano and Glen Hill Farm's homebred Third Coast.
Breaking from the outside post in a field of nine, the gelded son of Uncle Mo showed speed from the start and found himself a comfortable second behind 51-1 shot Bull Shoals in the $200,000 Hill Prince Stakes (G3T) for 3-year-olds at Belmont Park.
"With the trip I got, when I asked, he took off," Lezcano said. "I liked the way the race set up for him. The fractions were good. He was one-paced and then he came running."
Indeed he did.
Taking the lead turning for home, Third Coast cruised through the stretch and had little trouble fending off a bid by 6-5 favorite Caroline St. Beat to post a 1 1/4-length victory in the Oct. 10 1 3/16-mile graded turf stakes.
"It's good to win a race. I'll leave him here for the next one. I guess I have to spend Thanksgiving in New York City," trainer Thomas Proctor said.
That next one will likely be the $500,000 Jockey Club Derby Invitational Stakes (G2T) at 1 5/16 miles Nov. 28, one of the last graded turf stakes of the year in New York.
It seems a fitting way to end the season for Third Coast, who notched the initial graded stakes victory of his career. A winner of three of seven starts, the son of the Medaglia d'Oro mare Marketing Mix captured the black-type Jersey Derby earlier in the year at Monmouth Park.
It's unlikely, though, that the Jockey Club Derby will set up as nicely as the Hill Prince.
Bushman Thoroughbreds' Bull Shoals led by a length through fractions of :24.56, :49.80, and 1:13.97 on firm turf over Third Coast, who was about a length ahead of Chambersville in third.
Approaching the quarter pole, Lezcano kicked Third Coast into gear and the 3-year-old motored to a 1 1/2-length lead in midstretch.
Madaket Stables and Steven Bouchey's Caroline St. Beat mounted a mild bid from sixth, but could not put much of a dent in the lead as Third Coast crossed the wire in 1:54.93 and paid $13.76 to win.
"Any time a horse can get around that first turn (in) second, he had a pretty easy trip," Proctor said.
Caroline St. Beat, a New York-bred son of Tiz the Law trained by Miguel Clement, settled for second after coming off a win in the $1,832,500 Nashville Derby Invitational Stakes (G2T) in his previous start.
"I got through when I wanted. He just lengthened at the end. I kept coming and coming, but the horse on the lead, he stole it," said jockey Manny Franco, who rode the runner-up.
A length farther back, longshot Bull Shoals, a Mo Forza colt trained by Jena Antonucci, hung on for third by a neck over Print.
A half brother to stakes-winning Wrigleyville, Third Coast is the fifth of seven named foals from multiple grade 1 winner Marketing Mix. She also has a Life Is Good 2-year-old colt and a yearling Justify filly.
