Shared Belief's brother re-routed to Florida for debut race
Trainer Murat Sancal, who originally penciled in the full brother of Shared Belief for a November debut, backed off Shared Legacy until his return to training recently at Churchill Downs.
The new plan?
“We’ve switched the route to Florida,” Sancal said.
Shared Legacy leaves Tuesday afternoon for the Palm Meadows Training Center in Boynton Beach. Now the colt, who as with Shared Belief is out of the Storm Cat mare Common Hope, could debut around the second week of January.
Sancal described Shared Legacy as “a late-developing horse” who’s still growing.
“He’s a huge horse,” the trainer said. “He’s a distance horse, and we know the family very well.”
Sancal and owner Arif Kurtel struck Oct. 31 at Churchill Downs with Shared Belief’s half-sister, a filly by Victory Gallop named Believe in Victory, in maiden special weight company.
“After the Breeders’ Cup, everybody came to our barn to see him also,” Sancal said of Shared Legacy. “I’m really happy. He gets all the attention. He may not be Shared Belief, but he has some talent.”
The colt also has some foundation. Through September, Sancal worked Shared Legacy 15 times before giving him a 30-day break.
The time in Florida will help determine which surface he’ll try. Sancal said Shared Legacy “definitely looks like a two-turn horse,” but that “he moves a little bit like a turf horse. We don’t know yet, but that’s how he moves.
“When we go to Palm Meadows, they’ll have turf over there and he’ll be able to work on it.”
Kurtel sent Shared Legacy to the auction ring as a yearling in 2017. But when Hip 153 hammered for $1.9 million, he didn’t meet the reserve price. Kurtel also reportedly declined a $1.7 million offer for private purchase.
A Turkish businessman, Kurtel purchased the mare Common Hope for $125,000 back in 2011. The gelded Shared Belief was born but not yet racing. He then went on to win five Grade 1 events, and in part because of that, his brother, Shared Legacy, is a colt viewed by connections as a stallion prospect.