Is spectacular the correct word to use for Shared Belief’s performance in the Awesome Again?

There were plenty of angry Shared Belief fans last week after the Awesome Again Stakes. Though Shared Belief won the race, he was the victim of some age old jockey tactics some refer to as “race riding”. Basically, instead of trying to win the Awesome Again Stakes, Victor was simply trying to cause Mike Smith and Shared Belief to lose. Here is the things regarding what unfolded you as a bettor need to understand.

According to Trakus, Shared Belief covered 6070 feet while Fed Biz ran 6004. The problem with this is that you may decide to take this literally as Shared Belief  was 66 feet worse off than Fed Biz. The problem with this lies in how the race actually played out. Though Shared Belief was taken wide on both the first and second turns, he was still able to apply some pressure to Fed Biz and maintain his natural cruising speed. People may say that Shared Belief didn’t want to go that fast, but not putting pressure on Fed Biz would’ve cost Shared Belief the race.

Now, how much ground did Shared Belief really give up to Fed Biz that day? It seems to me that Santa Anita was playing pretty honest that day, so the 66 feet is just that. Shared Belief didn’t run on a slower lane than Fed Biz nor vice versa. The added benefit that Shared Belief gained from Victor’s botched attempt at sabotage was that he couldn’t get blocked. Though Shared Belief didn’t want to go wide on the first turn, he would’ve fanned out wide on the second. Though it is tough to play the guessing game, he would’ve had to cover at least 6030 feet even if the race was run honestly.

So, how could Victor have truly sabotaged Shared Belief?

The primary objective for Shared Belief was to put some pressure on Fed Biz and keep him honest; which is exactly what happened. If Victor really wanted to assure a Shared Belief loss, he shoud’ve found a way to stop Shared Belief from putting any pressure at all on Fed Biz. Though Fed Biz isn’t a legend, he still is dangerous if allowed to gallop, the first 4 furlongs can be quite dangerous.

Now, Shared Belief had to keep Fed Biz honest while going wide around two turns, but this is the type of thing great horses have been doing for years; how soon we forget Big Brown in the Derby.

No one can say for sure how many lengths Victor cost Shared Belief, but I highly disagree with anyone who puts the number past five. All I know is that in a stall at Three Chimney’s farm there is a stallion who would be pretty amused at our new definition of “spectacular”.

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