The best two year old
in the land stayed home on Breeders’ Cup day. Instead, he made the last graded stakes race at Hollywood Park
a memorable one with a dazzling show of brilliance in the CashCall
Futurity (G-1). Shared Belief has
run away from his competition by over 20 lengths in three starts. He’s thoroughly professional. In ever start
he’s sat behind the pace in the early
race stages then blasts away through the stretch. The dark bay’s final quarters have been
quicker than the previous ones – something we rarely see and the mark of a very
good racehorse. Shared Belief’s final
time in the 1 1/16 mile CashCall was 1:42.16, the fastest time since 2008. His
time is comparable to that of Belmont Stakes winners Point Given and A.P. Indy,
and Kentucky Derby runner-up Lion Heart.
Shared Belief was bred
by Pam and Martin Wygod and made his first start for them under trainer Jedd
Josephson. He was then sold privately to a partnership that included trainer Jerry
Hollendorfer, Jungle Racing,
Alex Solis II, Jason Litt, and KMN Racing.
The two year old has a 3-3-0-0- ($451,200) record and has the Hollywood Prevue (G-3) and
CashCall Futurity (G-1) on his resume.
Sire:
SHARED
BELIEF (Candy
Ride (ARG) - Common Hope, by Storm Cat) is by the unbeaten Candy Ride. The
stallion was brought to the US by veteran trainer Ron McAnally after
eye-catching performances in a pair of Group 1 races in Argentina. Candy Ride raced only three times in the US,
but had racegoers buzzing with excitement. After defeating allowance company
going 1 1/16 miles on dirt, A month later Candy Ride switched to turf and
captured the 1 1/8 mile American Handicap (G-2). He faced a small but tough field in the
Pacific Classic and proved up to the task, beating Medaglia D’Oro by 3 ¾
lengths and setting a new track record for 1 ¼ miles in 1:59.11. McAnally wanted a fresh horse for the
following year, and kept Candy Ride out of the Breeders’ Cup Classic. While in training the following year, the
stalllion was injured and retired.
At stud, Candy Ride is
siring offspring as versatile as their sire. They’re hardy runners, sticking
around until they’re five or six. Dirt,
turf, synthetics, Candy Rides babies run over everything and their distance
range is sprints to middle distances.
Although he won at 1 ¼ miles and set a track record, Candy Ride’s stakes
progeny are distance challenged past 1 1/8 miles. To date, he has six crops on the track and
only one, Misremembered, has won at 1 ¼ miles, although four other stakes
horses have placed at the distance. Besides Shared Belief, Candy Ride’s most
accomplished runners include the stakes veterans Kettlecorn, Clubhouse Ride,
Evita Argintina, Sidney’s Candy, Twirling Candy and Capt Candyman Can. Incedently,
Candy Ride is also the sire of Candy Boy, the
second place finisher in the CashCall Futurity.
CANDY
RIDE ( Ride the
Rails - Candy Girl (ARG), by Candy Stripes)
Race record: 6-6-0-0
($749,149)1st –
Pacific Classic (G-1) 1 ¼ miles
1st –
American Handicap (G-2) 1 1/8 miles (T)
1st -
Joaquin S. de Anchorena (Gr. 1) 1 mile
1st - San Isidro (Gr.
1) 1 mile
Female Family:
Shared Belief’s dam
Common Hope won once in five starts, a nose decision over maidens traveling 6 ½
furlongs on the Del Mar Polytrack. She placed in an optional claimer at the
same distance on Santa Anita’s dirt. Besides Shared Belief, Common Hope bore
seven other foals. All raced, six are winners.
Her daughter Little Miss Holly (by Maria’s Mon) won the Iowa Oaks (G-3)
and son Double Major (by Bertrando) is stakes placed. Common Hope’s offspring are multi-talented
over dirt, mud, turf and synthetics.
The second dam Sown,
won both starts before being injured and retired. Her most accomplished foal
on the track was Santa Monica Stakes (G-1) winner Key Phrase (by Flying Paster). That one
bore the stakes winner and sire Yankee Gentleman (by Storm Cat) and stakes
placed Key Deputy (by Deputy Commander).
Key Phrase is also the grand-dam of the multiple graded stakes winning
sprinter and sire Half Ours (by Unbridled’s Song) and Grade 3 winner Khancord
Kid (by Lemon Drop Kid). Sown's son Tribal Rule never won a stakes, but he's a top California sire. By Storm Cat, Trible Rule is a full brother to Shared Belief's dam Common Hope. Tribal Rule is noted for getting win-early, distance challenged types. He's represented by two stakes winners at 1 1/8 miles and none past that distance.
Shared Belief, Common
Hope and the second dam Sown, are all Wygod homebreds. Shared Belief’s third dam Bad Seed was a minor
stakes winner and his fourth dam Rich and Rare was Champion Two Year Old Filly
in England. Shared Belief is a member of the Lowes Female Family 19. There are
no blue hens in this particular branch. Shared Belief may carry the large heart gene
or “X-Factor” gene from his damsire.
Damsire:
The
international sire Storm Cat is
Shared Belief’s broodmare sire. Storm Cat is a chameleon of sorts. Bred to mares with stamina oriented pedigrees, he
would get two turn runners, and those mares who were sprint oriented would
produce sprinter/miler types. This was the key to his remarkable success in the
breeding shed.Storm
Cat is excelling as a broodmare sire as well. He’s been the leading broodmare
sire for two years running and has been among the top ten leading broodmare
sires since 2005. Among the 101 stakes
winning offspring produced by his daughters are Classic placed Bodemeister,
Florida Derby winner Dialed In, and this
year’s Remsen winner Honor Code.
Shared
Belief has similar breeding to Santa Anita Derby winner Sidney’s Candy. Both
are by Candy Ride out of daughters of Storm Cat. Sidney’s Candy won only once at 1 1/8 miles.
He finished 17th in the 2010 Kentucky Derby, but continued on to
become a multiple stakes winner. The
stallion won over dirt, turf and Cushion Track.
Outlook:
Shared Belief favors his
damsire Storm Cat in the looks department.
He has an amazingly devastating and noticable burst of speed with a beautiful
extension and stride. The only drawback is that he paddles slightly with his
left foreleg. Shared Belief’s pedigree indicates that he’s
very borderline for 1 1/14 miles, but his natural talent could overcome that in the right circumstances. Oh, did I mention that Shared Belief is a
gelding? They don’t fare too well in the Kentucky Derby, only nine have won
since the Classic race’s inception.
There’s still hope though, since two of those nine winners wore the roses
in 2003 (Funny Cide) and 2009 (Mine That Bird).
So what can we expect
from Shared Belief on the Triple Crown trail? Currently, he’s mane and tail
above anything California has to offer and his performances have made the East
Coast horses look boring. There are
always those looking for chinks in the racing tack though, so I suppose Shared
Belief could fall into the “Who did he beat” category. Lets see…Bond Holder,
winner of the G-1 Frontrunner Stakes and fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, Tamarando, winner
of the Del Mar Futurity (G-1) and Real Quiet Stakes, and Kobe’s Back,
winner of the Willard L. Proctor Memorial.
Not too shabby. This
extraodinary gelding will have many racing fans believing in him before the
first Saturday in May.
