Emotions run high after Battle of Midway's win in Shared Belief
There were emotions beyond the usual joy on display in the winners’ circle following Saturday’s $100,000 Shared Belief and $200,000 Grade II Pat O’Brien Stakes.
The victory by Battle of Midway in the Shared Belief came for the stable of Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, the conditioner of the horse for whom the race’s name was changed last year. Shared Belief won 10 of 12 career starts, among them the 2014 TVG Pacific Classic, and was named the 2013 juvenile male Eclipse Award winner.
The five-time Grade I winner died from colic in 2015. The former El Cajon Stakes became the Shared Belief in 2016 and his ashes were interred at a memorial site on the Del Mar infield.
Hours before the Shared Belief, Hollendorfer-trained champion filly Songbird had lost for only the second time in a 15-race career in the Grade I $700,000 Personal Ensign at Saratoga.
“It was a tough day, this one saved it for us,” said Hollendorfer assistant Dan Ward, who saddled Battle of Midway with Hollendorfer away at Saratoga.
Ward had listened to the sports talk radio show of Jim Rome, part owner of Shared Belief, as Rome provided memories of the horse. Ward then decided to add a touch of the blue color of the Shared Belief racing silks and notified Rome via text.
The victory by Giant Expections in the Pat O’Brien was somewhat tempered by the sixth-place effort by stablemate and longtime stable standout Kobe’s Back.
The 6-year-old earner of more than $1 million has now gone 17 months and seven starts since back-to-back Grade II victories to open his 2016 campaign.
“I thought Kobe was going to run well today and I thought Flavien (Prat) gave him a great ride,” trainer Peter Eurton said. “But he’s obviously not the same horse right now that he has been.”
The Pat O’Brien was a “Win and You’re In” qualifier for the $1 million Las Vegas Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile here on Friday, November 3.
“I kind of like that,” Eurton said. “I think the mile might be just right for him.”
BAFFERT FOLLOWS SUCCESS AT SARATOGA FROM HIS DEL MAR HOME
Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert watched from what he calls the “Grade I” couch of his Del Mar residence on Saturday as two of his three shippers from here won Grade I events on the Travers’ Day program at Saratoga.
Drefong won the $600,000 Forego and two races later West Coast went wire-to-wire in the $1.25 million Travers, known as the “Summertime Derby” for 3-year-olds.
“I didn’t have anything (running at Del Mar) until later in the day, so I just stayed home and watched the whole program,” Baffert said Sunday. “I was able to talk with Jimmy (assistant Jim Barnes) and Mike Smith through it all.”
American Anthem, who had trained here, made a four-wide rally in the stretch to finish third in the Grade I $500,000 H. Allen Jerkens, beaten three lengths by Practical Joke. Then the fun really began.
Defending Breeders’ Cup Sprint champion Drefong took the Forego, a seven-furlong sprint, by four lengths. Left behind, in addition to the Forego field, were memories of the Grade I, $300,000 six-furlong Bing Crosby here on July 29 when Drefong drew the No. 1 post and bolted toward the gap only 30 yards out of the gate, unseating Smith.
“The main thing was that everybody came out of it OK,” Baffert said. “Mike or Drefong could have been hurt, but they weren’t . And if Drefong runs and wins the Crosby, he’s not going back to the Forego. So it all worked out.”
Drawn outside in the field of 10 for the Forego, Drefong shot to the lead out of the gate as the $1.15-1 favorite and claimed a Breeders’ Cup Sprint “Win and You’re In” qualifying spot that was lost soon after the start in the Crosby.
Two races later in the $1.25 million Travers Stakes it was another never-worse-than-first run to victory, this time by West Coast, who had prepared for the race with a series of five workouts at Del Mar.
The $670,000 winner’s share of the purse raised West Coast’s earnings for owners Gary and Mary West to $993,800 in seven lifetime starts, five of them wins.
Source: Del Mar Thoroughbred Club