Seven will try to derail Shared Belief in Awesome Again

ARCADIA, Calif. - Shared Belief will have seven rivals when he attempts to stretch his unbeaten streak to seven races in Saturday’s $300,000 Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita.

The Awesome Again Stakes is one of five Grade 1 races worth $300,000 on Saturday’s outstanding 11-race program. All five races are preps for Breeders’ Cup races at Santa Anita on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 and are part of the Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re In program, offering fees-paid berths for the winners to Breeders’ Cup races.

Shared Belief, the champion 2-year-old male of 2013, drew post 4 in the Awesome Again Stakes, a prep race for the BC Classic on Nov. 1. Shared Belief will be a heavy favorite. His main competition will likely come from Majestic Harbor, who won the Gold Cup at Santa Anita in June, and Imperative, who was third to Shared Belief in the Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Aug. 24.

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The Awesome Again Stakes is the eighth race, and the fourth of six consecutive stakes races. The pick six races, the sixth through 11th races, include five stakes.

The stakes action begins in the fifth race with the $300,000 Zenyatta Stakes for fillies and mares over 1 1/16 miles, a prep race for the BC Distaff on Oct. 31. Beholder, the two-time champion, will be a strong favorite against five rivals, including Iotapa, the winner of the Clement Hirsch Stakes at Del Mar in August.

There are 10 2-year-olds in the $300,000 FrontRunner Stakes over 1 1/16 miles, a prep race for the BC Juvenile on Nov. 1. The race is led by American Pharoah, the winner of the Del Mar Futurity over seven furlongs on Sept. 3. Calculator and Skyway, who were second and fourth in the Del Mar Futurity, are part of the field.

The largest field of the day comprises 14 fillies and mares in the $300,000 Rodeo Drive Stakes over 1 1/4 miles on turf, which promises to be a dynamite betting race. The Rodeo Drive is a prep race for the BC Filly and Mare Turf on Nov. 1.

Among those who merit respect are Moulin de Mougin, winner of the Grade 2 John Mabee Stakes at Del Mar in August, and Miss Serendipity, Parranda and Cozze Up Lady, the first three finishers of the Grade 2 Yellow Ribbon Stakes at Del Mar on Sept. 1.

The race has two shippers in Irish Mission, who won the Grade 3 Glens Falls Handicap at Saratoga, and Emollient, who was second to Miss Serendipity in the Grade 1 Gamely Stakes here in May, but well beaten at Saratoga and Arlington Park during the summer.

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After the Awesome Again Stakes, there is the $75,000 Unzip Me Stakes for 3-year-old fillies on the hillside turf course, which drew a field of nine.

The final stakes of the day is the $300,000 Chandelier Stakes for 2-year-old fillies over 1 1/16 miles, a prep race for the BC Juvenile Fillies. The entries include Conquest Eclipse and Dad’s Princess, who were third and fourth in the Del Mar Debutante on Aug. 30, and Angela Renee, third as the favorite in the Grade 1 Spinaway Stakes on a sloppy track at Saratoga on Aug. 31.