Baffert takes another shot at Shared Belief in the Malibu

At the risk of alienating California Chrome, Bayern, and Wise Dan fans everywhere, I would like to pose the following question … Is Shared Belief the best horse in America?

It seems a fair question to me, after all, the 2-year-old champion of 2013 has done little to dispel that notion in his sophomore campaign. Further evidence, either way, will happily be on display opening day at the The Great Race Place, and it should be interesting. It’s never easy to drop down from a tough ten furlong effort to face talented sprinters at seven-eighths, but that is exactly what Shared Belief will look to do in Friday’s Grade 1 Malibu Stakes.

Trained by Jerry Hollendorfer, and owned by a partnership headlined by sports personality, Jim Rome, Shared Belief went down to defeat for the first time in last month’s Breeders’ Cup Classic. “Went down” being the key words there, as the gelded son of Candy Ride was hit sideways so hard just a few strides out of the gate, that he easily could have gone down. Bothered again not too much later, the previously undefeated gelding tried hard to check in a respecatble 4th of 14 in America’s richest race.

While we live in a “what have you done for me lately world”, and he is coming into the Malibu off a loss, it cannot be forgotten why Shared Belief was made the 5-2 favorite in the Classic. In a word, he was brilliant in each and every one of his seven previous starts.

In winning his seven in a row, Shared Belief dominated his competition in races from six furlongs to a mile-and-a-quarter. He won at five different tracks and on two different surfaces. He also overcame trouble, but more on that later. Heading into the Classic, there really was no telling just how good he was, and I submit, there still isn’t.

As for the seven furlongs on Friday, keep in mind that in his only previous attempt at the trip, Shared Belief turned in a big performance in his stakes debut, when rolling to a 7 ¾ length win in the Grade 3 Hollywood Prevue Stakes last November.

If Shared Belief, with Mike Smith in the saddle, is indeed able to get right back on the winning track at Santa Anita, it will come at the direct expense of the trainer who has won two out of the last three editions of the Malibu, Bob Baffert. Baffert turned the trick with The Factor and Shakin It Up in 2011 and 2013. This year, the ubiquitous conditioner shows no fear in challenging the highly regarded 123 pound highweight with a foursome of talented sophomores, in Chitu, Midnight Hawk, Indianapolis and Pimpernel. Adding to the fun on Friday, there is a little bit more to this Baffert vs. Shared Belief story.

Lest we forget, Bob Baffert trained horses have a bit of recent history with the Malibu favorite. In the Grade 1 Awesome Again, one of his runners, Sky Kingdom ran unofficial interference, while his other entrant, Fed Biz, battled the champion all the way to the wire. In Shared Belief’s next race, it was the Baffert trained, Bayern who sideswiped the favorite a few jumps out of the gate. And as well all know, Bayern went on to win the Classic.

Intrigue aside, of Baffert’s talented quartet, Chitu is the one who should attract the most attention. The son of Henny Hughes returned from a long layoff to impressively win the seven furlong Damascus Stakes over a solid field on Halloween afternoon. It was his first race since running a better-than-the-finish sounds 9th in the Kentucky Derby. It’s pretty clear that the Sunland Derby winner has the class, speed, and appreciation of this trip to give Shared Belief a legitimate test.

Baffert’s other three are no slouches either. Pimpernel and Midnight Hawk both look to be rounding into form, while Indianapolis is a talented sprinter, who probably got less than a fair chance in the Breeders’ Cup.

Less than a fair chance in the Breeders’ Cup … perhaps that is what this Grade 1 race on the day after Christmas is all about. Shared Belief is already a champion, but we are only left to wonder what would have happened in the Breeders’ Cup Classic if he was afforded a clean trip. Would he still be undefeated? Would he be on the verge of repeating as a champion? Would we be calling Shared Belief America’s best horse?