Shared Belief likely to face small field in Awesome Again

ARCADIA, Calif. – Shared Belief, considered the early favorite for the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 1, will be part of a small field for his Santa Anita debut in the $300,000 Awesome Again Stakes on Sept. 27.

The Grade 1 race will not include Clubhouse Ride, who won the Grade 2 Californian Stakes on May 31. Clubhouse Ride emerged from a seventh-place finish in the $200,000 Los Alamitos Mile on Sept. 6 with a back injury, trainer Craig Lewis said.

“He had a minor setback – a back issue,” Lewis said. “He’s turned out.”

Lewis said the injury helps explain the loss in the Los Alamitos Mile and a last-place finish in a field of 10 on Aug. 24 at Del Mar in the Pacific Classic, which was won by Shared Belief.

Shared Belief, the champion 2-year-old male of 2013, is unbeaten in six starts. Shared Belief is based at Golden Gate Fields and will be sent to Santa Anita on Tuesday or Wednesday, trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said Friday.

The Grade 1 Awesome Again Stakes is run over 1 1/8 miles on the main track. Aside from Shared Belief, the candidates include Fed Biz, Footbridge, Imperative, Majestic Harbor, and possibly Soi Phet. Majestic Harbor won the Gold Cup at Santa Anita in June but was sixth in the Pacific Classic.

The Awesome Again Stakes is a key prep for the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita. The Awesome Again is one of five $300,000, Grade 1 races to be run Sept. 27 at Santa Anita, and all are preps for Breeders’ Cup races. All five races are part of the Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re In program, offering fees-paid berths for the winners to Breeders’ Cup races. Santa Anita’s autumn meeting begins Friday.

The Rodeo Drive Stakes for fillies and mares over 1 1/4 miles on turf will include Miss Serendipity, who won the Yellow Ribbon Stakes on turf Sept. 1 at Del Mar and the Grade 1 Gamely Stakes here in May. The Rodeo Drive is a prep for the BC Filly and Mare Turf.

American Pharoah, the winner of the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity on Sept. 3, will be favored in the FrontRunner Stakes for 2-year-olds over 1 1/16 miles, a prep for the BC Juvenile. American Pharoah is expected to be part of a field that will include the Del Mar maiden winners Conquest Panthara and Daddy D T.

Her Emmynency and Conquest Eclipse, second and third Aug. 30 in the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante, are likely runners in the Chandelier Stakes for 2-year-old fillies over 1 1/16 miles. The Chandelier Stakes leads to the BC Juvenile Fillies.

Beholder will be a heavy favorite in the Zenyatta Stakes for fillies and mares over 1 1/16 miles. The champion 2-year-old filly of 2012 and 3-year-old filly of 2013, Beholder has not started since finishing fourth June 7 in the Ogden Phipps Stakes at Belmont Park.

Beholder will face a small field. Iotapa and Tiz Midnight are other expected starters. The Zenyatta winner receives a fees-paid berth to the BC Distaff, which Beholder won in 2013.