Shared Belief too Big for this Big Cap
When last seen, Shared Belief staked his claim to the title of the best horse in America with a stylish victory in the San Antonio Handicap over the reigning Horse of the Year, California Chrome. That race was listed as a Grade 2, but clearly featured Grade 1 quality. For an encore, the once beaten former Juvenile Champion will return in Saturday’s prestigious and historic Santa Anita Handicap. It can be easily argued that the traditional late winter affair is the most important race run regularly in California. It goes without saying that the ten furlongs is a Grade 1. But a funny thing happened on the way to the entry box of the Big Cap … only one Grade 1 horse came to play.
Shared Belief stands over this field like LeBron James balling with a group of kindergartners.
The son of Candy Ride’s only loss was a very unlucky 4th in the Breeders’ Cup Classic a few starts back. That race, in which he was bounced around soundly in the first furlong, comes with a big asterisk, and is rightly easily excused. In his other nine races, Shared Belief has looked every bit the part as one of the most talented geldings in U.S. racing since the days of Kelso and Forego.
Compare that resume to the rest of the expected field for the Santa Anita Handicap. In fact, consider if you will, what the Big Cap field would look like if Shared Belief was a late scratch …
“Now introducing the field for the 2015 Big Cap … Bronzo, Dynamic Sky, Patrioticandproud, Hard Aces, Sr. Quisqueyano, Catch a Flight, Cool Samurai, Crimson Giant, You Know I Know, Imperative and Diamond Bachelor.”
No offense to any of those runners, but that is no Big Cap. It’s not even a medium cap. It would more have the look of a Grade 3, and a light one at that. Further illustrating the weakness of Shared Belief’s expected competition on Saturday, Bronzo, Imperative and Dynamic Sky would be co-highweights at 117 pounds, without the prohibitive favorite.
Not all Grade 1 races are created equal, but this field, without Shared Belief, would easily be called the weakest Big Cap ever. Of course, we are all expecting the big horse to run, and any race that includes Shared Belief immediately becomes worth watching.
Certainly there are reasons why the million dollar race looks to be such a mismatch. California Chrome is headed to Dubai. Hoppertunity probably is as well. Bayern is not yet 100% physically. The top Eastern horses are not ready or not willing to take on Shared Belief in California.
Thusly, I’ve seen a lot of talk on the social media circles that Shared Belief is a paper champion. His critics point to the weakness of the Santa Anita Handicap as proof that by never having left California so far, the Jim Rome owned, and Jerry Hollendorfer trained star is avoiding true competition.
I disagree with this sentiment. He faced the Horse of the Year in two of his last three races, and it’s hard to fault Shared Belief for running in one of the most important races in the country. It’s just a shame that it turned out that he will have no real competition in the big race. It’s a race that I will probably only watch as a fan, fully expecting Shared Belief to win easily at 1-5. I can still appreciate such a fine horse doing what he does best.
As far as not leaving California yet, he really hasn’t had to … the Breeders’ Cup has been stationed at Santa Anita the past two years, and he was not healthy and ready for last year’s Triple Crown. Sure, he could have been pointed for the $10 million Dubai World Cup later this month, but I can certainly understand why his connections do not feel the need to travel halfway across the world.
Having said that, he will need to leave California later this year. Obviously the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland this fall, is one that the horse currently labeled as the best horse in the United States cannot miss if healthy, but also a trip east for one or more of the big summer races in New York is something that his connections should strongly consider to prove that Shared Belief is truly the nation’s best.