Less than two weeks until the Breeders’ Cup at Monmouth Park and you would think that Cup news would be dominant, yet there was a happening at Belmont Park this past weekend that has nothing to do with racing’s richest day, yet merits some attention nonetheless.

Helene’s Dream has revisted the winner’s circle.

Many of you may not be familiar with Helene’s Dream, a John Pregman Jr trained, 5-year-old NY-bred son of Charismatic. Yet on Saturday at Belmont Park, Helene’s Dream scored a two-length victory in a state-bred allowance race going six furlongs, one of two wins on the day by jockey Jose Espinoza. While that fact may be newsworthy in itself, in victory, Helene’s Dream improved his career record to 2-for-46. It marked his first career victory at Belmont Park, where he had previsously lost all 12 starts, and was also his first win at the six furlong distance, at which he entered the day 0-for-21.

And as if that were not enough, the final running time for the race was 1:09.58.

Let me repeat… Helene’s Dream ran six furlongs in 1:09.58. How about that for a lightning-fast strip?

OK. Back to reality. Less than two weeks to the Breeders’ Cup, and the defections continue to roll in — Fabulous Strike and Shakespeare the latest casualties. For this very reason, we will hold off on analyzing the races until fields become a bit more concrete.

Until then, however, a fascinating question to ponder: Who will be favored in the Breeders’ Cup Classic?