Mr Fisk catches Tahoe Sunrise at wire for dead heat in Shared Belief Stakes
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DEL MAR, Calif. – Bob Baffert had the $125,000 Shared Belief Stakes covered early and late Sunday at Del Mar. Both his starters delivered.
The front-runner Tahoe Sunrise and late-runner Mr Fisk dead-heated in the dirt mile for 3-year-olds, giving Baffert two wins in the same race and extending his Shared Belief win total to a record 12 victories.
Tahoe Sunrise ($3) and Victor Espinoza set the pace through comfortable fractions of 46.10 and 1:11.65, briefly shook free into the lane, but got nailed on the wire by favorite Mr Fisk ($2.80) and Juan Hernandez, who rallied from last to dead-heat in 1:37.33.
Tahoe Sunrise was Espinoza’s first stakes win for Baffert since 2020, when Princess Noor won the Grade 2 Chandelier at Santa Anita. Mr Fisk was the Hernandez’s first stakes win for Baffert since last weekend when Eda won the Grade Rancho Bernardo at Del Mar. Baffert and Hernandez have won four stakes at the current summer meet.
Although the Shared Belief has been won by recent notable 3-year-olds including Medina Spirit, Improbable and Accelerate, the 2023 field came up soft. Five of the six runners were eligible to the first allowance condition.
After the Baffert pair, it was eight lengths back to third-place finisher Smart Mo. The fourth- through sixth-place finishers were Clouseau, Henry Q, and Low Expectations.
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