Shared Belief seeks key win in Awesome Again Stakes

By: SPORTS NETWORK

Arcadia, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Undefeated champion Shared Belief makes a final start before the Breeders' Cup Classic in Saturday's $300,000 Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita Park.

The 1 1/8-mile stakes is a "Win and You're In" race for the $5 million Classic at Santa Anita on Nov. 1.

Unbeaten in six career starts, Shared Belief will face seven rivals on Saturday with Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith again in the saddle. The 3-year-old gelding, co-owned and trained by Hall of Fame member Jerry Hollendorfer, will break from post 4.

This year, Shared Belief won the Los Alamitos Derby on July 5 and defeated older horses in Del Mar's Pacific Classic on Aug. 24, winning over dirt and synthetic surfaces.

"I think he'd run just as well on the grass," Smith said. "He's a very athletic horse. Secretariat could run over the dirt and the grass. I'm certainly not going to compare Shared Belief to him, but he has the kind of ability that shows me he could run over anything, dirt or different synthetics.

"In fact, I bet you could put him on the grass and he'd just smoke around there. He's just an extremely talented horse."

As a 2-year-old in 2013, Shared Belief was perfect in four starts, including the Hollywood Prevue and CashCall Futurity, both at Hollywood Park. He comes into Saturday with earnings of $1,372,200.

Here is the field for the Awesome Again from the rail out: Fed Biz, Martin Garcia; Sky Kingdom, Victor Espinoza; Bird E House, Joe Talamo; Shared Belief, Mike Smith; Footbridge, Rafael Bejarano; Majestic Harbor, Tyler Baze; Mystery Train, Brice Blanc; and Imperative, Kent Desormeaux.

The Awesome Again has an approximate post time of 7 p.m. ET.