Welcome to the Jungle - Shared Belief Rocks the Awesome Again
Shared Belief’s win in the Awesome Again Stakes in front of a crowd of 17,023 fans solidified his position as the best 3-year old in the country. In a race that was filled with extremely talented horses the opportunity was there to shine, and shine is what this talented colt did. Styling a perfect winning streak, he is rocking a 7-0 record.
It was not an easy race for Shared Belief as his opponents made him work every step of the way. Sky Kingdom, who finished last and stablemate to the Bob Baffert-trained Fed Biz ridden by Victor Espinoza, carried Shared Belief wide on the first turn. Shared Belief remained five wide into the backstretch then seemed to have fell behind a bit as Mike Smith gave him a breather.
“He certainly needed one, we were forced to go wide on the first turn, then wide again at the back stretch. I gave him a breather and he was able to overcome it”.
“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.”
Like a slingshot, Shared Belief who remained on the extreme outside going 4-wide rounding the bend went into overdrive. He rallied gamely with Fed Biz going nose to nose down the stretch under a strong urge by Mike Smith who appeared as strong as ever after getting tossed on the turf when his mount slipped aboard filly Moulin de Mougin in the Rodeo Drive (gr.1), the race right before the Awesome Again Stakes. The duo did not let up, and eventually won by a neck grabbing the $300,000 Awesome Again Stakes and sending a buzz cross-country on this talented gelding’s performance.
“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.”
Shared Belief ran 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.58 and paid $2.40, $2.90 and $2.10 as the 1-5 favorite in one of five Grade 1 races on the card. Trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, Fed Biz returned $3.60 and $3.20 after running at, or near the lead much of the way. Footbridge was another 2 1/4 lengths back in third and paid $5.20 to show. Majestic Harbor was fourth, followed by Imperative, Mystery Train and Sky Kingdom.
“It looked like we had him,” Baffert said. “Fed Biz dug in and tried to beat him. We got beat and it was a great race.”
It was Shared Belief’s fourth win of the year, and with this added addition to an already impressive resume; he is well in contention for champion 3-year old male honors, and a possible shot at Horse of the year should he win the Breeder’s Cup Classic. This latest victory gave Shared Belief an automatic berth in the $5 million Classic.
The excitement continues as Shared Belief is still in contention for the $1 Million Bolton Challenge Bonus which would be paid to any horse that wins the Los Alamitos Derby (gr.2), the $1 million TVG Pacific Classic (gr.1) at Del Mar, AND the $5 million Breeders Cup Classic (gr.1) November 1st at Santa Anita Park. Winning all three races is no easy task, but after already winning both races; Shared Belief is one step closer to winning this added incentive.
Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer is a part owner of Shared Belief in partnership with Sports talk show host Jim Rome’s Jungle Racing, Jason Litt, Alex Solis II, George Todaro, and Kevin and Kim Nish's KMN Racing.
After overcoming plenty of trouble to win the Awesome Again Stakes, you'd have to say that Shared Belief heads to the Breeders’ Cup Classic with a big shot.