American Classic Pedigrees
  • Home
  • Books
  • Articles
  • Hoofprints
  • Horse Profiles
    • Horse Profiles A-E
    • Horse Profiles F-K
    • Horse Profiles L-Q
    • Horse Profiles R-Z
  • Links
  • About ACP
    • Author
    • Contact
    • For Contributors

Shared Belief: Gone Too Soon

12/3/2015

0 Comments

 
He had the makings to have become one of the legendary geldings of the American turf: speed, push-button acceleration, stamina and heart. What he lacked was luck and time, and both ran out on him on December 3, 2015. Just hours after another strong workout on his way back to the races, Shared Belief was dead, a victim of colic.

Nothing ever came easily to the gelded son of Candy Ride after he won the Eclipse Award as the best American 2-year-old male of 2013. A planned Triple Crown campaign went by the wayside when he came up with a foot injury. When he got back to the races, he ripped off three straight wins, scoring dominant victories in the Los Alamitos Derby (USA-II) and Pacific Classic (USA-I) and then proving he could handle adversity by overcoming an extremely wide trip in the Awesome Again Stakes (USA-I). Luck was no lady no him in the Breeders' Cup Classic (USA-I), however; the best he could do was fourth after being turned into an equine ping-pong ball when eventual winner Bayern and runner-up Toast of New York tangled up the field coming out of the gate.

Undaunted, Shared Belief roared back into action at the winter Santa Anita meeting, After cutting back to seven furlongs and beating good 3-year-old sprinters in the Malibu Stakes (USA-I), Shared Belief threw down the gauntlet against dual Classic winner and 2014 American Horse of the Year California Chrome in the San Antonio Stakes (USA-II). Chrome ran a winning race, but Shared Belief ran a still better one, scoring a decisive victory. After that, the historic Santa Anita Handicap (USA-I) was practically a paid workout. So it was small wonder that fans were utterly shocked when Shared Belief not only didn't win the Charles Town Classic (USA-II) but didn't even finish.

It was almost a relief to find out that the race really was too bad to be true; Shared Belief had fractured a hip. It was even better to find out that the fracture was non-displaced and had a good prognosis. All the gelding needed was time...time that he turned out not to have.

This time, there won't be a comeback. All that is left are the memories of a special horse, and the shadow of greatness that might have been.


0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    I'm Avalyn Hunter, an author, pedigree researcher and longtime racing fan.

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014

    RSS Feed

© 2014-2023 by Avalyn Hunter. All rights reserved. Contributors' materials remain the property of the copyright owners and are used by permission.

Home     Books     Articles     Horse Profiles    Hoofprints    Contact    Links