Shared Belief Stakes about as good as it gets for local 3-year-old dirt runners

DEL MAR, Calif. – Saturday’s Shared Belief Stakes for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles at Del Mar is likely to draw two Grade 1 winners in Gormley and Klimt as well as Battle of Midway, who was third in the Kentucky Derby back in May.

The quality of the projected field does not match the prize money. The Shared Belief is worth $100,000 and has a first-place prize of $60,000.

For decades, Del Mar has emphasized turf racing for 3-year-olds at the summer meeting, with a three-stakes program ending with the Grade 2, $250,000 Del Mar Derby on Sept. 3.

That is unlikely to change. Even though the Southern California circuit typically has a very good – and sometimes world-class – group of 3-year-old dirt runners, Del Mar officials do not envision a significant raise in the purse for the Shared Belief because of a lack of available money.

“Our purses are derived from the old-fashioned way – wagering only,” said Tom Robbins, the track’s vice president of racing. “We don’t have the benefit of slot revenue.”

In Southern California, the Shared Belief Stakes is preceded on the calendar of dirt stakes for 3-year-olds by the Grade 3 Los Alamitos Derby, which was worth $200,000 in early July. Robbins said it would not be prudent to offer a similar race at Del Mar in late July, so soon after that race.

During late July and August, top 3-year-olds from California frequently are sent to races in New Jersey, New York, or West Virginia for age-group stakes. At Del Mar, Robbins is quick to mention, 3-year-olds who stay in California have run well in the $1 million Pacific Classic against older horses.

In the 27-year-old history of the Pacific Classic, there have been five 3-year-old winners, including Shared Belief in 2014. Last Saturday, there were no 3-year-olds among the seven runners in the Pacific Classic.

“People ask, ‘Why don’t you have a $500,000 race’ ” for 3-year-olds, Robbins said. “We’ve had good success with 3-year-olds in the Pacific Classic.

“We’d have to run a race four or five weeks before the Pacific Classic, and we only have a seven- or eight-week meeting. That would put our race up against the race at Los Alamitos.”

The purse situation is similar for 3-year-old fillies racing on dirt during the summer meeting. The Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks on turf was run for $300,000 last Saturday. This Sunday, the Grade 3 Torrey Pines Stakes on dirt has a purse of $100,000. A small field is expected, led by Paradise Woods, winner of the Grade 1 Santa Anita Oaks in April.

There is little money available in the purse budget for enhancements to the Shared Belief or Torrey Pines purse in the near future. The track is carrying a deficit in its purse pool because of an overpayment in recent years that led to a reduction in overnight purses in the summer of 2016 and a slight cut in stakes purse money for the current season.