Shared Belief refuses to lose in the Malibu

For those of you looking forward to a runaway victory by Shared Belief in today’s Malibu Stakes, I urge you not to be disappointed by the excellent young gelding’s 8th win in 9 career starts. The margin of victory in the featured event of a loaded opening day card at Santa Anita may have been small, but the performance was not. In front of more than 40,000 fans, Shared Belief was classy, professional, tractable, determined, and fast, all rolled into one, within the minute and twenty seconds it took for him to earn the fourth Grade 1 victory of his young career.

Trained by Jerry Hollendorfer, and owned by a partnership headlined by sports personality, Jim Rome, and his Jungle Racing, Shared Belief was sent to the post as the 1-2 chalk in the field of nine, but don’t be confused by the overwhelming favoritism … this was a legitimate test. It’s never easy to drop down from a tough ten furlong effort, like the Breeders’ Cup Classic was for him eight weeks ago, to face talented sprinters at seven furlongs, but that is what the 2013 Juvenile Champion was asked to do today.

The dark bay son of Candy Ride exited the gate as smooth as butter from his outside post position, and under the confident hands of Mike Smith, was positioned in a perfect stalking position in the early going. As expected, the talented speedster, and second choice, Chitu jumped out to the lead, but was allowed to set a moderate first quarter in :23.13. That easy pace did not last long, though, as Indianapolis and Shared Belief tightened ranks to force a blistering second quarter in :22.11.

Shared Belief hung back and let Indianapolis be the one to pressure his stablemate, Chitu, for the lead, but midway through the turn, the 123 pound highweight looked in danger of traffic problems. That problem was short-lived, as the horse to his outside (Frensham) could not keep up for the stretch run, but the horse just to his inside, Conquest Two Step, had plenty more, and together the pair set sail after the Bob Baffert trained leaders.

In mid-stretch, it was clear both Chitu and Conquest Two Step were running big ones, but still, it was also evident that Shared Belief was digging down for more on the outside. It was more of a grind, than a romp, but sure enough, the champion and Mike Smith did what they needed to do to get to the wire a neck winner. Disrespected at the windows, Conquest Two Step outfinished Chitu by a ½-length for second at odds of 72-1. The final time for seven panels was a very solid 1:20.69.

Smitty had nothing but praise for his winning charge after the race. “This race proved what a great horse he is, just by doing what he did,” said the Hall of Fame rider. “To run route races, then to come back to seven eighths against top sprinters . . . To me, that puts a big feather in his cap and puts him in front for Horse of the Year. I think this put him ahead of the rest. 

After tasting defeat for the first time, while banged around hard in the early stages of the Breeders’ Cup Classic, Shared Belief returned today to his familiar spot in the winner’s circle, to begin a brand new winning streak. It may have not been by daylight, but he did what champions do … just win baby. And make no mistake, Shared Belief is a champion.