Shared Belief took the overland route and faced a stiff challenge for the
first time in his seven-race career, but the three-year-old gelding found enough
late to overhaul Fed Biz by a neck in Saturday’s $300,500
Awesome Again at Santa Anita. The classy son of Candy Ride confirmed his
status as the favorite for the Breeders’ Cup Classic, registering his second
consecutive Grade 1 victory against older horses.
Shared Belief has also positioned himself to earn Horse of the Year honors if
he can win the 1 1/4-mile Classic at Santa Anita on November 1.
He passed a tough test on Saturday. The Jerry Hollendorfer trainee broke well
under Mike Smith and was up close to the lead before being fanned wide into the
first turn by Sky Kingdom, and Shared Belief continued to travel well off the
rail the entire way.
Fed Biz sped forward from his rail post to take the early advantage,
completing the opening quarter-mile in :22 4/5 with a 1 1/2-length advantage,
but he conceded the lead to Mystery Train entering the backstretch. That rival
led by a head after a half-mile in :46 2/5, with Shared Belief a few lengths
back in fourth traveling four wide.
Smith was forced to take his mount five wide on the far turn as Fed Biz
regained the lead rounding the bend, and Shared Belief was still lingering his
fourth, with work to do approaching the stretch drive. He responded to the
urgings of his rider entering the straightaway, accelerating into contention,
but Fed Biz proved stubborn all the way to the wire.
Shared Belief drew even with about a furlong remaining and gamely dispatched
the front-runner in deep stretch, edging his way to the first narrow victory of
his racing career.
According to Trakus, he traveled 66 feet farther than Fed Biz as a result of
the wide trip.
“They tried to use some tactics on me which made the win today even sweeter,”
Smith said. “They just kept taking me wide, taking me wide, and I believe if you
want to press the pace or take me out a little bit, OK. But doing it at all
costs just to get me beat isn’t the way it should be done.
“It was to the extreme, I thought it was ridiculous. You just don’t do that.”
Shared Belief completed 1 1/8 miles in 1:48 2/5 over the fast track.
“It’s not the worst thing in the world to have a tough race and be double-fit
for the Breeders’ Cup,” Hollendorfer said. “That race will be tougher so we’ll
need to be tougher, too.”
Favored at 1-5, Shared Belief returned a paltry win payout of $2.40. He is
campaigned by Jungle Racing (Jim and Janet Rome), Hollendorfer, KMN Racing
(Kevin and Kim Nish), Jason Litt, George Todaro and Alex Solis II.
Fed Biz, the 6-1 second choice in the seven-horse field, wound up 2 1/4
lengths clear of third-placer Footbridge, a 34-1 outsider. Next came Majestic
Harbor, Imperative, Mystery Train and Sky Kingdom.
Fed Biz and Sky Kingdom are both trained by Bob Baffert and Hollendorfer was
asked if he felt “double-teamed” by those horses.
“We’re all big boys,” the Hall of Fame conditioner said. “It’s no big deal
for me. Mike (Smith) will have to settle up with Victor (Espinoza, on Sky
Kingdom, who carried Shared Belief wide on the first turn).”
With the $180,000 payday, Shared Belief has now earned $1,552,200 from his
perfect mark. His
previous shortest margin of victory came in his last start, a convincing 2
3/4-length score in the August 24 Pacific Classic at Del Mar. He captured his
first five starts by a combined 30 lengths.
His resume includes victories in the Hollywood Prevue, CashCall Futurity and
Los Alamitos Derby. The Kentucky-bred gelding made a name for himself in
California last year, breaking his maiden by seven lengths for trainer J.B.
Josephson before being purchased privately and transferred to Hollendorfer. A
month later Shared Belief made his stakes debut in the Hollywood Prevue and once
again encountered no threat when pulling away to a 7 3/4-length score.
The dark bay closed out his juvenile campaign with a 5 3/4-length win in the
CashCall Futurity while stretching out to 1 1/16 miles, and just a month later
found himself honored as the champion two-year-old male of 2013 at the Eclipse
Award ceremony.
The Kentucky-bred was scheduled to return in the Robert B. Lewis in early
February at Santa Anita, but foot problems plagued the young champion and he was
eventually sidelined. He returned to the worktab in April and came back from a
five-month hiatus in late May at Golden Gate Fields, leading wire to wire in a
six-furlong allowance.
Shared Belief cruised to a 4 1/4-length score while making his dirt debut in
July 5 Los Alamitos Derby, stretching out to 1 1/8 miles for the first time in
his brief career. He carried that form forward while switching back to a
synthetic track in the August 24 Pacific Classic, easily winning at the 1
1/4-mile Breeders’ Cup Classic distance, and joined a select group of
three-year-olds to have won the Pacific Classic.
Shared Belief originally raced for his breeders, Pam and Marty Wygod, and is
out of the winning Storm Cat mare Common Hope. That mare is also responsible for
Grade 3 victress Little Miss Holly and the stakes-placed Double Major, herself
the dam of stakes-placed winner Major Hope.
Common Hope is a half-sister to Grade 1 queen Key Phrase, who produced
stakes-winning sire Yankee Gentleman and is ancestress of Grade 2 scorer Half
Ours and Grade 3 heroine Khancord Kid. Also of note in this female line are
English champion two-year-old filly *Rich and Rare II and 1999 Canadian champion
three-year-old filly Gandria.
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