San Antonio Key to Important Season for Shared Belief

Shared Belief is starting a season that could see him called one of the racing greats by the end of the year. (Photo by Eclipse Sportswire)
By Tom Pedulla, America’s Best Racing
Shared Belief swept his first three races to be honored as 2-year-old champion. He owns eight victories in nine career starts, with those wins coming at six different distances and five different tracks. He boasts $2,032,200 in earnings for celebrated sports-talk host Jim Rome and his partners.
And yet, for all he has done, fans eagerly wait to see whether the 4-year-old gelding will earn a place among racing’s constellation of stars or fall somewhat short of that.
“I do think Shared Belief has the opportunity to be great,” said Richard Migliore, a former jockey who now serves as an analyst. “Right now, he’s very, very good.”
Shared Belief can significantly enhance his credentials on Saturday, when he opposes California Chrome, newly-crowned Horse of the Year, in the $500,000 San Antonio Stakes at Santa Anita Park.
Their only other encounter, in the $5-million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita last Nov. 1, fell far short of expectations when the eventual winner, Bayern, veered to his left out of the starting gate and collided with Shared Belief, the favorite, costing him precious ground.
Front-running Bayern went on to narrowly hold off runner-up Toast of New York’s furious late bid by a nose. California Chrome took third with Shared Belief in fourth in the mile-and-a-quarter contest. Bayern withstood a stewards’ inquiry that remains controversial.
The outcome could not have been more costly to Shared Belief, who went on to win his final start of the year, in the seven-furlong Malibu Stakes at Santa Anita on Dec. 26, for his third Grade 1 triumph of the year. If his record had stayed unblemished in the Classic, he surely would have added Eclipse Awards as the nation’s leading 3-year-old and as Horse of the Year to his 2-year-old title.
SHARED BELIEF WON THE MALIBU AFTER THE BREEDERS' CUP CLASSIC

Photo by Benoit & Associates
Instead, Bayern, California Chrome and turf star Main Sequence comprised the Horse of the Year finalists. For an expert such as Migliore, who will be part of the team when Fox Sports 1 broadcasts the Donn Handicap (G1) from Florida’s Gulfstream Park and the San Antonio Stakes from 5:30-7:30 p.m. EST, Shared Belief is hardly an afterthought.
Migliore was extremely impressed with the way Shared Belief responded to adversity. “Most horses can throw a punch,” he said during a national conference call on Tuesday. “Not many horses can take a punch and keep going.”
Shared Belief is training like a horse poised for a brilliant campaign. He breezed four furlongs in 50 4/5 seconds over the synthetic surface at Golden Gate Fields on Tuesday in his final tune-up for his rematch with the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner. His ultra-serious work had been done the week before when he covered six furlongs in a blistering 1:11 4/5 seconds for veteran jockey Russell Baze.
Jerry Hollendorfer, who trains Shared Belief, is known for choosing his words carefully. He stepped out of character, though, when he said of the eye-popping six-furlong drill: “That’s a huge workout at Golden Gate Fields. Horses don’t work that fast.”
Although Shared Belief is nominated to the Dubai World Cup, it appears unlikely that he will make the journey halfway around the world. “We haven’t ruled it out, but the interest level there is not particularly high,” Hollendorfer said.
The San Antionio Stakes is intended to serve as a prep for the Santa Anita Handicap and the start of a campaign that is expected to initially focus on the West Coast. Hollendorfer said he will seriously consider some of New York’s most prestigious races during the summer and fall in readying Shared Belief for another run at the Classic, which will be held at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky.
“We’ll try to take them one at a time and not worry too much about what everybody thinks,” said Hollendorfer, knowing there will be ample time for Shared Belief to prove his greatness.

#TheRematch on FOX Sports 1
$500,000 San Antonio Stakes
Saturday, February 7 at 5:30 ET/2:30 PT