Shared Belief targets Awesome Again on path to BC Classic
DEL MAR, Calif. – Shared Belief is back home at Golden Gate Fields, but his trainer and co-owner, Jerry Hollendorfer, was back at Del Mar on Friday morning, overseeing the final preparations for the horses he will run here during the last few days of the meet, as well as contemplating the fall campaign for Shared Belief.
Shared Belief remained unbeaten with his stirring victory over elders last Sunday in the Pacific Classic. His goal is the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 1 at Santa Anita. Hollendorfer said the best way to get there is via the Grade 1 Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita on Sept. 27.
“With the Breeders’ Cup in California, if you don’t have to leave California, that’s the best of all worlds,” Hollendorfer said. “Why ask him another question? Can he get on a plane and run well? Do I think he could do it? Yes. But why do that when there’s a race here and the ultimate goal is here?”
Hollendorfer said the Awesome Again would allow Shared Belief “to have a race over the track” prior to the Breeders’ Cup. Santa Anita, whose fall meet opens Sept. 26, put in a new dirt surface this summer.
Ultimately, Hollendorfer said, the itinerary for Shared Belief came down to convenience.
“If you’re setting your goal as the Breeders’ Cup, and it’s in California, and you can stay here, it just makes sense to stay here,” he said.
The Breeders’ Cup Classic has a $5 million purse. In addition, Shared Belief could win a $1 million bonus through the Bolton Challenge if he adds the Breeders’ Cup Classic to earlier victories in the Los Alamitos Derby and Pacific Classic.