Shared Belief will train more lightly toward Breeders' Cup

ARCADIA, Calif. – Shared Belief emerged in good condition from his eventful, winning journey in the Awesome Again Stakes on Saturday, but his trainer and co-owner, Jerry Hollendorfer, on Sunday morning at Santa Anita said the hard race would likely cause him to train Shared Belief differently than anticipated prior to his next start, the Breeders’ Cup Classic here on Nov. 1.

“I guess a good, hard race isn’t ideal, but I won’t have to train him as hard as I normally do,” Hollendorfer said.

Santa Anita was still abuzz Sunday morning over the Awesome Again, in which Shared Belief was carried wide for much of the race by the longshot Sky Kingdom, who ended up finishing last in the seven-horse field under Victor Espinoza.

Espinoza on Sunday received a seven-day suspension from Santa Anita's stewards, who cited him under a California state racing board rule that says it is illegal for a jockey to "ride carelessly, or willfully, so as to permit their mount to interfere with or impede any other horse."

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Sky Kingdom is trained by Bob Baffert, whose Fed Biz finished second in the Awesome Again. The two Baffert runners have different owners.

Jockey Mike Smith, aboard Shared Belief, said he thought Espinoza deliberately ran interference throughout the race, saying Espinoza mimicked whatever Smith did, asking his horse for run when Smith did so, easing back when Smith did so on Shared Belief.

According to Trakus, Shared Belief traveled 66 more feet than Fed Biz, the equivalent of 7 3/4 lengths. He earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 101.

Hollendorfer would not directly address the tactics employed against Shared Belief, but he betrayed his feelings Sunday morning when, regarding the post-race interviews on Saturday, he said, “I kept my composure, didn’t I?”

“In the end we learned a lot more about our horse,” he said Sunday. “He can overcome adversity and still win, so we’re grateful. It was a good one to win.”

Hollendorfer said Shared Belief “came out of the race as good as a horse can come out of a race.” He is scheduled to be sent by van back to Golden Gate Fields on Monday. Shared Belief has trained regularly on the Tapeta surface at Golden Gate since injuring a foot while training at Santa Anita back on January.

Shared Belief is unbeaten in seven starts. He has won all four of his races this year, the last two both Grade 1 races against older horses. He won all three of his starts last year, when he was named champion 2-year-old male.