Medina Spirit works fast five furlongs, could make return this weekend
The Grade 3 Shared Belief Stakes at Del Mar was run in early August last year as a prep for a Kentucky Derby postponed from May to September because of the pandemic.
This summer, the $100,000 Shared Belief Stakes at a mile is back in its familiar position in late August, and once again could be in the national spotlight for a significantly different reason.
There are strong indications that Medina Spirit, the first-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby, will have his first start of the summer in Sunday’s Shared Belief. Medina Spirit, who worked five furlongs in 58.60 seconds on Monday, tested positive for the banned medication betamethasone after the Kentucky Derby. The positive test remains the subject of court action.
Trained by Bob Baffert for Amr Zedan, Medina Spirit has started once since the Kentucky Derby, finishing a well-beaten third in the Grade 1 Preakness Stakes at Pimlico on May 15.
Baffert did not respond to a text message regarding Medina Spirit on Monday. In a brief interview in the Del Mar stables on Sunday, Baffert said Medina Spirit’s participation in the Shared Belief was contingent on Monday’s workout.
John Velazquez, who has ridden Medina Spirit in the colt’s last four starts, is expected to have the mount.
The Shared Belief could be a prep for the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby at Parx Racing on Sept. 25.
Bafert has two other high-profile nominees for the Shared Belief in Classier and Defunded, who were first and second, separated by a nose, in the Grade 3 Los Alamitos Derby on July 4. Defunded has since won an allowance race at 1 1/16 miles by 8 3/4 lengths on Aug. 8.
The Shared Belief field is expected to include Rock Your World, who won the Santa Anita Derby in April but was 17th in the Kentucky Derby and sixth in the Belmont Stakes; Stilleto Boy, the winner of the Iowa Derby last month; and The Great One, who has not raced since a seventh in the Santa Anita Derby.
Saturday’s main race is the Grade 2 Pat O’Brien Stakes at seven furlongs. The winner of the $200,000 Pat O’Brien receives a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Del Mar on Nov. 6.
The race is expected to have a strong field. The nominations include Eight Rings and C Z Rocket, who were second and third in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes at six furlongs on July 31, and Ginobili, the easy winner of an allowance race at a mile on July 17.