Shared Belief works six furlongs in prep for Pacific Classic
DEL MAR, Calif. – Shared Belief, the unbeaten champion 2-year-old male of 2013, worked six furlongs in 1:13.40 Tuesday at Golden Gate Fields, preparing for a start Aug. 24 in the $1 million Pacific Classic.
Trained by Jerry Hollendorfer, Shared Belief is the likely favorite in the Pacific Classic, which will be his first stakes appearance against older horses. Shared Belief won the $500,000 Los Alamitos Derby in his 2014 stakes debut on July 5.
“He’s always been real consistent in his works and attitude,” Hollendorfer said. “We haven’t seen anything that makes us want to change our mind.”
Owned by a partnership that includes television sports commentator Jim Rome, Shared Belief is part of a projected field of 12 for the Pacific Classic, which is run at 1 1/4 miles on the Polytrack synthetic surface.
The race likely will have one foreign runner in Toast of New York, who won the United Arab Emirates Derby in Dubai in March. Cat O’Mountain, third in the Dubai World Cup in March, will stay in England, according to a representative of Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin Racing stable.
The other probable starters are Clubhouse Ride, Footbridge, Frac Daddy, Game On Dude, Imperative, Irish Surf, Majestic Harbor, Sky Kingdom, and You Know I Know. Candy Boy, second in the West Virginia Derby last weekend, also is a possible runner, trainer John Sadler said Wednesday.
On Wednesday, Game On Dude, the winner of the 2013 Pacific Classic, worked seven furlongs in 1:24.60.