Shared Sense roars back into form with track record at Fair Grounds
NEW ORLEANS – Foot problems have been the bugaboo with Shared Sense throughout his career, but he certainly put his best foot forward here at Fair Grounds on Thursday, setting a track record for 1 1/16 miles while recording a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 103.
Shared Sense, 5, won a pair of Grade 3 derbies – in Indiana and Oklahoma – at age 3, but had just one win in six starts over 18 months since his Oklahoma Derby victory, and was coming off an allowance race at Oaklawn in which he was pulled up by jockey Joel Rosario.
“Joel said he didn’t feel right, and thankfully he pulled him up,” Brad Cox, who trains Shared Sense, said at his Fair Grounds barn Friday morning. “We did all you’re supposed to do in terms of X-rays, soundness exams, worked to get him off the vet’s list. We never found anything. But he’s had a history of his feet biting him a little bit. It was good to get him back.”
Shared Sense, a Godolphin homebred by Street Sense, got a sweet setup Thursday. A wicked early pace of 22.72 seconds for the opening quarter and 45.43 seconds for the half allowed Shared Sense to sit back under Colby Hernandez and come with a rush. He was timed in 1:39.91 on the fast main track. He has now won six times in 17 starts.