Tatters to Riches facing only four in Shared Belief Stakes

DEL MAR, Calif. – Tatters to Riches returned from an 11-month layoff earlier this month and performed as if he were not sidelined with injury last fall.

Tatters to Riches won an optional claimer at 6 1/2 furlongs by a half-length on Aug. 4, and runs in Saturday’s $100,000 Shared Belief Stakes for 3-year-olds at a mile at Del Mar.

Tatters to Riches, who makes his fourth start in the Shared Belief, has never run farther than seven furlongs. He has drawn the outside post in a field of five

“It’s nice that it’s a short field and he drew the outside,” trainer Jeff Mullins said.

Tatters to Riches, a $1 million purchase at a sale of 2-year-olds in training in April 2017, races for Red Baron’s Barn and Rancho Temescal.

There is one stakes winner in the field. Yulong Warrior won the $250,000 Al Bastakiya Stakes in Dubai in March and will have his American debut in the Shared Belief. Afleet Ascent, Cool Bobby, and Shivermetimbers have yet to win a stakes. Afleet Ascent was second in the Oceanside Stakes on turf here on July 18.

KEY CONTENDERS

Tatters to Riches, by Union Rags
Last 3 Beyers: 94-65-78

◗ Tatters to Riches was sixth in the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity last September in his only stakes appearance. Shortly after the race, Tatters to Riches was taken out of training to have a bone chip removed from an ankle.

◗ In the Aug. 4, race, Tatters to Riches rallied from seventh along the rail under jockey Tyler Baze, who has the mount on Saturday.

“The rail opened up, and it was perfect,” Mullins said.

◗ A start around two turns should work for Tatters to Riches, Mullins said.

“I think it’s a natural distance for him,” Mullins said. “It’s a little quick back. I’d like to have four or five weeks. It would be better.”

Yulong Warrior, by Street Cry
◗ Yulong Warrior, who joined trainer Doug O’Neill’s stable in the spring, followed his win in the Al Bastakiya Stakes at Meydan Racecourse with a seventh in the Group 2 United Arab Emirates Derby on the undercard of the Dubai World Cup at Meydan on March 31.

◗ Yulong Warrior wore blinkers for the Al Bastakiya Stakes, the course-and-distance prep for the 1 3/16-mile UAE Derby, and will be fitted with the equipment again on Saturday.

“He seems talented and very willing,” O’Neill said. “We’ve taken our time, and he seems ready to go. I like the 3-year-old-only angle.”

Shivermetimbers, by Shanghai Bobby
Last 3 Beyers: 83-87-84

◗ Shivermetimbers won an optional claimer at a mile on July 18 after a two-month layoff. This will be his first start in a stakes since a seventh in the Grade 3 Robert Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita in February.

◗ Shivermetimbers is likely to race as a stalker behind Afleet Ascent or Tatters to Riches, who have shown speed.