Shared Belief

[Bogey]

Originally Posted by Merlinsky

Yeah early on that would've discounted Barbaro, Big Brown, and Animal Kingdom. (I went to double check the surfaces of Barbaro's earliest races and couldn't help but see the DNF first thing on Equibase. Ugh, always a punch to the gut.) I'm almost glad that some of them start out winning on things like turf because you know they can run on it and if they take off on dirt the option of going back to their other surface is there. They might not take the risk sometimes of trying turf later if they don't have to.

Mr. Speaker fits this mold and it will be interesting to see where Shug will decide to go with him next (Holy Bull or Fountain of Youth). His barn is loaded with potential Derby types, so he has the option of keeping him on the grass and point to the G3 Palm Beach on March 1st. Shug is in pretty good position.

As for Shared Belief, he deserves his own blog according to the criteria the last few years. I love his action and feel it will translate well to dirt.

[Danzig]

true.

what i don't like about their plans with shared belief is only two starts before the derby. it's too bad that this has become the rule, not the exception.

Here is the champ last week at GGF.

He's not the one in blue.

Thanks to Janet Hollendorfer for the gracious access.

DT.jpg

[Indian Charlie]

Originally Posted by v j stauffer

Here is the champ last week at GGF.

He's not the one in blue.

Thanks to Janet Hollendorfer for the gracious access.

Attachment 2370

any word on his next appearance?

Originally Posted by Indian Charlie

any word on his next appearance?

Yeah. Jerry said he's looking at the Los Alamitos Derby formally known as the Swaps Stakes.

[alysheba4]

sounds weird, "Swaps Stakes " at Los Al.......Cant Believe H.P. Is Gone.

[RockHardTen1985]

Originally Posted by v j stauffer

Yeah. Jerry said he's looking at the Los Alamitos Derby formally known as the Swaps Stakes.

Seems like they are babying him.... Why not run him in a real race?

[outofthebox]

Originally Posted by RockHardTen1985

Seems like they are babying him.... Why not run him in a real race?

First route race in 7 months. Smart move i think. Hollendorfer is not Rontos Stable. Like you said, baby steps.

[Rupert Pupkin]

Originally Posted by RockHardTen1985

Seems like they are babying him.... Why not run him in a real race?

It's a grade II with a $500,000 purse. That's not good enough? This will be his first race on real dirt. And as Outofthebox said, he just had the one 6 furlong sprint and now he's stretching all the way out to 1 1/8 miles. That's not easy to do. By the way, he's never run this far before.