Awesome Again

[jettroofer]

Was Smith hurt from the spill on the in the7th? Who rides Shared Belief if he is?

[Tom]

Takes more than a spill and a ride through the parking lot to stop Mike.

[jettroofer]

Apparently so. I was heavy on Fed Biz.....maybe just looking for an additional edge. In all seriousness, glad he isn't hurt. Haven't heard about WS's jock. Hope he's ok as well.

[MNslappy]

Trakus data, distance ran in feet:

Shared Belief - 6070

Fed Biz - 6004

Footbridge - 6013

Majestic Harbor - 6055

Imperative - 6029

Mystery Train - 6034

Sky Kingdom - 6055

[MNslappy]

G1 Awesome AgainTimeformUS Speed Figures:

Shared Belief 114
Fed Biz 115
Footbridge 111

on Twitter, CJ said "If our figures included ground loss, particularly ground loss in relation to pace, Shared Belief would easily be 125+"

[jettroofer]

There was no question SB was kept 4-5 wide nearly the entire trip. Especially around the final turn. That horse is a beast. Makes you wonder how the TC would've played out.

[Tom]

I think he got a lot out that race.
Impressive overcoming that wide trip and the stench of the other rider glued to him.

[classhandicapper]

I wasn't as impressed with Shared Belief as everyone else. He was clearly best, but if I had a legitimate Grade 1 horse I wouldn't be afraid of him.

Fed Biz is a nice horse, but he's a Grade 2 horse.

Footbridge is not even a Graded winner.

The rest of that field is kind of in and out depending on surface and trip.

He lost a lot of ground relative to the 2nd horse, but several other good horses ran with wide trips at SA yesterday and didn't seem to have a major impact on them. Maybe they weren't all as wide as SB, but I'm not so sure the ground loss should be taken as literally as the extra feet traveled. It may have been a disadvantage, but I don't think being outside was such a terrible thing yesterday.

The wagering problem for the Classic is that IMO the horses in the east aren't all that much.

I mean, Zivo is a really nice horse. But it seems like just a few weeks ago some people were arguing that he was very overbet in the Commentator Stakes for NY Breds. Now he's suddenly a leading older horse?

Itsmyluckyday didn't look like a world beater yesterday.

Moreno is nice, but he caught a few favorable tracks that helped him until yesterday.

Long River has raced against the grain in several recent races, but he's been a Grade 3 horse.

I like Tonalist and Wicked Strong, but I wouldn't put either in the world beater category as 3yos. They are solid 3yos that seem to fit with these older horses because the older horses are not that good.

[Rex Phinney]

The classic looks more wide open than ever.

I have to think Baffert is going to try Bayern there now, he was a neck away from beating Shared Belief with Fed Biz a horse he believes isn't as good as Bayern.

Tonalist and Zivo had good days, but just how easy is it to throw your $$$ behind them outside of NY or even Belmont?

Moreno and Itsmyluckyday are nice horses but surely only capable of winning when EVERYTHING goes their way

Have to think California Chrome's best running is done, though he figures to improve off his last I can't see him moving forward that much

Shared Belief still looks the best, even though he didn't beat much yesterday if you think about it he is the only horse of these to win a race this year without everything going his way

[cj]

Originally Posted by classhandicapper

I wasn't as impressed with Shared Belief as everyone else. He was clearly best, but if I had a legitimate Grade 1 horse I wouldn't be afraid of him.

Fed Biz is a nice horse, but he's a Grade 2 horse.

Footbridge is not even a Graded winner.

The rest of that field is kind of in and out depending on surface and trip.

He lost a lot of ground relative to the 2nd horse, but several other good horses ran with wide trips at SA yesterday and didn't seem to have a major impact on them. Maybe they weren't all as wide as SB, but I'm not so sure the ground loss should be taken as literally as the extra feet traveled. It may have been a disadvantage, but I don't think being outside was such a terrible thing yesterday.

I think you are greatly underestimating his trip. He wasn't only wide, he was forced wide and being harassed while up close to a fairly hot pace. He was then wide again around the second turn while the pace was still strong. All wide isn't the same; his was pretty bad.

[clocker7]

In the Classic, SB's main competition will be a deep class of top shelf 3 yos that have run successfully at 10 -12 furlongs while carrying 126 lbs. Instead of dealing with lesser horses having less stamina qualities, (while receiving weight) like he has been this year.

This 3 yo old class is remarkably intact and has better longer distance performers in it, compared to the last two years, imo.

[thespaah]

Point understood. However, when the math comes into play 66 feet is about 3.5 strides.
After looking at the replay, SB was 'bothered' a couple of times, but it did not look significant.
If anything, I would be willing to concede that the trainer's instructions were to keep the horse outside and away from trouble.
That shows me that Hollendorfer believed SB could win even with a tough trip.

[letswastemoney]

I thought Shared Belief's race yesterday was incredible. More impressive than any other race in his career.

I wasn't sold after his 2 year old season.

I wasn't sold after he beat up on Candy Boy again at Los Alamitos.

I thought his win in the Pacific Classic was good, although he received a perfect setup.

In this one, Shared Belief didn't get a good trip. He was carried wide on the first turn and stayed wide, while fairly close to a hot pace. He looked beaten on the turn. Yet, he still won.

And now, no one else is impressed? It was an A+ effort. I'm not a fan, but I liked his race yesterday quite a bit.

[Rex Phinney]

I think some people have a Jaded picture of some of the Classic runners.

Wicked Strong has never won past 9 furlongs.

All 3 of Tonalist meaningful wins are at Belmont.

California Chrome is way removed from top form.

Bayern and Moreno don't have a prayer at 10F

[Rex Phinney]

Originally Posted by thespaah

Point understood. However, when the math comes into play 66 feet is about 3.5 strides.
After looking at the replay, SB was 'bothered' a couple of times, but it did not look significant.
If anything, I would be willing to concede that the trainer's instructions were to keep the horse outside and away from trouble.
That shows me that Hollendorfer believed SB could win even with a tough trip.

You are downplaying a lot of things there. Listen to Mike Smith after the race, he's been around a while and he knew exactly what was going on. Sky kingdom was out there on a kamikaze mission.