Shared Belief leaves California for first time for Charles Town Classic

For a champion with 10 wins in 11 starts, Shared Belief has had to do a lot of convincing on his journey to the top of the Thoroughbred rankings in North America.

At first, he was regarded as a synthetic-track horse. Then he missed the 2014 Triple Crown with a foot injury, losing the opportunity to face the best of his division.

When his season concluded on a less-than-satisfying note in the Breeders’ Cup Classic after he was roughed up at the start and finished fourth, Shared Belief again had to take a backseat to fellow West Coast 3-year-old California Chrome, who beat him 3 1/2 lengths and was voted Horse of the Year. He has since evened that score with a victory in the San Antonio Stakes.

Shared Belief will have another question to answer next Saturday when he races outside of California for the first time in the $1.5 million Charles Town Classic in West Virginia. Can he ship and win?

“I don’t think the trip back east will be a problem for him,” said Alex Solis II, a partial owner. “Our big goal for him is the Met Mile, and the timing between this race and that is perfect, so we said, ‘Let’s give it a shot.’ ”

Although he hasn’t crossed a state line, Shared Belief has done a good bit of traveling. Based at Golden Gate Fields with Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, Shared Belief must know the commute from the Bay Area to Los Angeles by heart.

In addition to its attractive spot on the calendar, the Grade 2 Charles Town Classic is an extremely lucrative race. Under a three-tier participation incentive written into the conditions of the race, Shared Belief will earn a $100,000 bonus for running. Depending how many horses start, the winner’s check will be between $750,000 and $800,000.

As of Friday, it appeared that Shared Belief will face seven rivals, including Whitney winner Moreno, who is eligible for a $50,000 bonus; two-time Grade 2 winner Vyjack; and last year’s Charles Town Classic winner, Imperative.

The other probable starters are the lightly raced Street Babe, who won the Mineshaft at Fair Grounds last out; General a Rod, who won the Challenger Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs in his debut for Todd Pletcher; Page McKenney, who has won two consecutive stakes at Laurel Park; and Looking Cool, a $62,500 claim in his last start.

Solis, 30, put together the partnership that purchased Shared Belief following a maiden win in his career debut at Golden Gate in October 2013. Sports talk show host Jim Rome and his wife, Janet, are the principal owners at 40 percent. Hollendorfer, George Todaro, and Kevin and Kim Nish own lesser shares. Solis and Jason Litt, his partner in Solis/Litt Bloodstock, each have 5 percent.

In hindsight, the purchase of Shared Belief has been a bargain buy, but at the time, it was somewhat risky.

“He was not cheap. We paid a fair amount of money for him considering he was a gelding and had won over Tapeta up north,” Solis said. “We bought him because we thought he would be live in the Prevue and CashCall Futurity, which were coming up at Hollywood Park.”

Solis and his partners were right. Shared Belief won both of those races and was voted an Eclipse Award as 2-year-old male champion. The $435,000 he earned in the Prevue and CashCall more than covered his purchase price. Shared Belief’s earnings now stand at $2.9 million.

In Solis’s mind, one of Shared Belief’s most pivotal races came at Los Alamitos last July. Shared Belief came into the Los Alamitos Derby 4 for 4 but had only raced on synthetic tracks. He easily dispatched Candy Boy that day.

“The Los Al Derby was big for him because it was on dirt,” Solis said. “Everyone’s knock on him was if he could be as good on dirt. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t wondering myself.”

The Los Alamitos race is also reassuring on another level. Charles Town has a six-furlong track. Los Alamitos was expanded from five furlongs to a mile to accommodate Thoroughbred racing last year. The circumference of the turns did not change, however, as the stretch and backstretch were simply lengthened.

“He’s never run on a track like he will this week, but he handled the turns at Los Al fine, and they’re about the same,” Solis said.

Shared Belief is scheduled to have one more work before he heads east. There is a lot of excitement brewing about getting to see Shared Belief in person rather than on TV, first in the wilds of West Virginia and then, if all goes according to plan, on the big stage in New York on June 6.