Smith gains mount on Shared Belief in Los Alamitos Derby

CYPRESS, Calif. – Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith will ride Shared Belief, the champion 2-year-old male of 2013, in Saturday’s $500,000 Los Alamitos Derby, trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said Tuesday.

The Grade 2 Los Alamitos Derby, run over 1 1/8 miles, will be the first time that Smith has ridden Shared Belief, who is unbeaten in four starts.

“He’s a guy that does well in the big races and a great money rider,” Hollendorfer said. “We wanted to give him a shot in the race.”

The Los Alamitos Derby will be Shared Belief’s first stakes race of the year. Plagued by foot problems earlier this year, Shared Belief won an allowance race over six furlongs against older horses at Golden Gate Fields on May 26 in his 2014 debut.

Last fall, Shared Belief was unbeaten in three starts, including the Grade 1 CashCall Futurity at Hollywood Park. Shared Belief races for a partnership that includes television sports commentator Jim Rome.

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Corey Nakatani rode Shared Belief to two stakes wins last fall but is not being used by Hollendorfer at this time. Russell Baze, who rides in Northern California, rode Shared Belief in May.

The Los Alamitos Derby is the richest race of the two-week Los Alamitos summer Thoroughbred meeting, which opens Thursday. The Los Alamitos Derby was previously run at Hollywood Park as the Swaps Stakes.

The Los Alamitos Derby has a projected field of six, including Can the Man, Candy Boy, Friendswith K Mill, Top Fortitude, and Tonito M.

Can the Man and Friendswith K Mill were first and second in the Grade 3 Affirmed Stakes at Santa Anita on June 7. Candy Boy won the Grade 2 Robert B. Lewis Stakes in February and was 13th in the Kentucky Derby on May 3.

Top Fortitude and Tonito M. were first and second in the Grade 3 Laz Barrera Stakes at Santa Anita on May 10 and later second and eighth in the Grade 2 Woody Stephens Stakes at Belmont Park on June 7.

Candy Boy was rested after the Kentucky Derby and has impressed trainer John Sadler with his recent workouts, including six furlongs in 1:12.80 at Santa Anita last Sunday.

Sadler said the Los Alamitos Derby will lead to major stakes later this summer for Candy Boy, with options including the $1 million Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park on July 27 or the $750,000 West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer on Aug. 2. There are further races available later this summer at Del Mar.

“The Haskell is close, but we have an invitation,” Sadler said. “Also, there is the West Virginia Derby. If you go to Del Mar, you run against older horses or try the grass.”