Honor A.P. | Horse Racing Free Tips

Thousand Words Steals Shared Belief

Thousand Words (Pioneerof the Nile) returned to winning ways and improved his position on the GI Kentucky Derby trail with a gutsy score in Del Mar’s Shared Belief S., which offered a total of 50 points towards the Run for the Roses. Breaking sharply from the inside post in this field scratched down to four, the 9-1 shot had all three rivals hot on his tail through a :23.89 opening quarter. GI Santa Anita Derby hero and heavy favorite Honor A.P. (Honor Code) was the first to break ranks, moving up onto the pacesetter’s outside hip and was joined by $3.85-million FTFMAR topper Cezanne (Curlin) to his inside as the half-mile went up in :47.93. Cezanne drew even with his stablemate Thousand Words turning for home and Honor A.P. joined in on their outside. Thousand Words kept on finding in the stretch to maintaining a safe margin on his pricey barnmate all the way to the line. Honor A.P. re-rallied in the final strides to be second, finishing 3/4 of a length behind Thousand Words and a half-length ahead of Cezanne.

Opening his account with a trio of wins, including the GII Los Alamitos Futurity S. and GIII Robert B. Lewis S., Thousand Words checked in fourth behind recent GI Haskell Invitational S. winner and stablemate Authentic (Into Mischief) and Honor A.P. in the GII San Felipe S. at Santa Anita Mar. 7. A well-beaten 11th in the Oaklawn S. Apr. 11, the $1-million KEESEP buy was given a brief freshening and finished second in the GIII Los Alamitos Derby July 4 behind his barnmate and ‘TDN Rising Star’ Uncle Chuck (Uncle Mo), who was scratched from this test in favor of next week’s GI Travers S.

Pedigree Notes:

Thousand Words is out of MGSW & MGISP Pomeroy’s Pistol, who was purchased by bloodstock agent Mike Ryan earlier this year at the Keeneland January Sale for $475,000. Her 2018 foal by Pioneerof the Nile was born dead and she produced a Hard Spun colt last year. The 12-year-old mare was bred back to the late Arrogate last spring, but has no reported foal for 2020.

Saturday, Del Mar
SHARED BELIEF S., $98,000, Del Mar, 8-1, 3yo, 1 1/16m, 1:43.85, ft.
1–THOUSAND WORDS, 124, c, 3, by Pioneerof the Nile
1st Dam: Pomeroys Pistol (MGSW & MGISP, $574,678), by Pomeroy
2nd Dam: Prettyatthetable, by Point Given
3rd Dam: Swearingen, by Deposit Ticket
($1,000,000 Ylg ’18 KEESEP). O-Albaugh Family Stables LLC &
Spendthrift Farm LLC; B-Hardacre Farm (FL); T-Bob Baffert;
J-Abel Cedillo. $60,000. Lifetime Record: MGSW, 7-4-1-0,
$327,000.
2–Honor A. P., 124, r, 3, Honor Code–Hollywood Story, by Wild
Rush. ($850,000 Ylg ’18 FTSAUG). O-C R K Stable LLC; B-George
Krikorian (KY); T-John A. Shirreffs. $20,000.
3–Kiss Today Goodbye, 118, c, 3, Cairo Prince–Savvy Hester, by
Heatseeker (Ire). ($150,000 Ylg ’18 KEEJAN). O-John
Sondereker; B-Debmar Stables (KY); T-J. Eric Kruljac. $12,000.
Margins: 3/4, HF, NK. Odds: 9.20, 0.20, 34.40.
Also Ran: Cezanne. Scratched: Anneau d’Or, Uncle Chuck.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

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Brisnet.com Triple Crown Throwdown: Shared Belief

Ed DeRosa of Brisnet.com takes on TDN’s Steve Sherack and Brian DiDonato as they handicap Triple Crown prep races plus the big three races themselves. The three will make $100 Win/Place bets in the preps and $200 Win/Place bets in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont. Highest bankroll at the end wins.

DeRosa – Haskell Result – Longshot Jesus’ Team was fourth. Bankroll: $4960.

Shared Belief S. – The Shared Belief could provide needed points to Cezanne and lagniappe to Honor A. P., so we’ll go with the horse who actually needs the points to compete in the GI Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve. There’s more to it than that, of course, as Cezanne has both a tactical (front-end) and weight (-6 pounds) over his chief rival in what has become a compact field. Selection: #6 Cezanne (7-2).

Sherack – Haskell Result – Not exactly how you want to see a 3-5 shot win, but Authentic just hung on for a narrow decision after having a pretty easy time of it up front. Bankroll: $3425.

Shared Belief S. – With the expected late scratches of a couple of contenders, this can turn into an oddly run race for the remaining field of four. That being said, it’s awfully hard to make a case against who I firmly believe is the best 3-year-old in the country, even at a short price. Selection: #5 Honor A. P. (8-5).

DiDonato – Haskell Result – How in the world did they let Authentic get so loose? Dr Post always seemed under a ride and settled for third. I was a little surprised to see them choose the Haskell over Runhappy Travers given his grindy style, and would expect him to run a bit better at Churchill, though not sure he can beat the top few. Bankroll: $5125.

Shared Belief S. – I don’t see Honor A. P. losing this race and, given the current contest standings, there’s no real reason for me to try and get creative. Looking forward to the heavyweight match-up between him, Tiz the Law and Art Collector in Kentucky. Selection: #5 Honor A. P. (8-5).

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Shirreffs Has An ‘Emotional Connection’ To Shared Belief Favorite Honor A. P.

Del Mar will be the venue for a Kentucky Derby prep race Saturday, the $100,000 Shared Belief Stakes.

Weird, right?

“Nothing feels weird this year, weird is the norm,” said John Shirreffs, trainer of 8-5 morning line favorite Honor A. P.

Amen to that.

Back on March 30, Churchill Downs announced that, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Run for the Roses – a worldwide sports calendar fixture on the first Saturday in May – would be moved to the first Saturday in September for its 146th running. Likely a somewhat unsettling announcement to many trainers with Derby candidates in their stables. But, of course, not to Shirreffs.

“It didn't require any big adjustment,” Shirreffs said matter of factly – his default attitude on most matters. “We waited for the San Felipe and then the Santa Anita Derby, which was the regular plan.”

Honor A. P., a son of Honor Code and grandson of champion A.P. Indy, made his racing debut at 6 furlongs with a fast-closing runner-up finish at Del Mar on August 17 of last year. Stretched to a mile two months later, he was a 5 1/4 –length winner at Santa Anita to end a 2-year-old campaign that, while brief, caught the eye of Derby watchers.

He was second to Authentic in the Grade II, 1 1/16-mile San Felipe on March 20, beaten 2 ¼ lengths, but turned the tables in the COVID-delayed, 1 1/18-mile Santa Anita Derby on June 6, winning by 2 ¾-lengths.

The win elevated Honor A. P. to the top, or near it, on Derby Watch lists. But it necessitated a decision for Shirreffs and owners C R K Stable of Lee and Susan Searing of Arcadia, CA, regarding the next stop on the Derby trail. Go east for one of several large-purse races or stay in Southern California for the Shared Belief?

In anticipation of being a Derby prep — one that would offer Derby “points” (50-20-10-5 to the first four finishers) — the Shared Belief had been moved back a few weeks on the Del Mar scheduled and advanced from a mile to 1 1/16 miles in distance. The next race call went to the Shared Belief.

Honor A. P. has worked four times over the Del Mar surface and Shirreffs said: “I think he's coming into this race as well as he was for the Santa Anita Derby.”

Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith, aboard for all four of Honor A. P.'s starts, describes him as a “big, strong, developing colt,” who could wind up benefitting from the delay of the Derby with the extra time for maturity and experience.

Shirreffs says: “He's got a great stride on him and he's light on his feet. My job is finding ways to get him to relax; to learn a little more race by race.”

Shirreffs trained the colt's dam, Hollywood Story. “That gives me an emotional connection,” he said. “But I really benefit from training his sister Hollywood Girl. That helps a lot because they're alike in that they're really competitive and have similar dispositions.”

Honor A. P. has reunited Shirreffs and Smith for a third Derby run in the past 15 years. In 2005, they combined for a victory in Louisville on 50-1 Giacomo, to that point the second-biggest longshot winner in Derby history. Giacomo paid $102.60 to win and was the front of a superfecta that returned more than $1.7 million.

Giacomo had finished fourth in the Santa Anita Derby a month earlier and was part of a crop of California 3-year-olds that was largely dismissed as contenders.

“(Giacomo) had run a creditable Santa Anita Derby but he hadn't won any of the preps,” Shirreffs recalled. “Mike was the one who encouraged us to go on; he thought he'd do better at the mile and a quarter.”

Unlike the betting public, Smith was sold on Giacomo – owned by recording executive Jerry Moss and his wife Anne and named for the son of the musician Sting.

“I really believed going in that he had a good shot,” Smith remembered. “I told everyone I knew 'Don't leave him out.' I knew the mile and a quarter would be right up his alley.”

A stone closer, Giacomo was 17th of 20 in the early going, well off a blistering pace, but stormed down the stretch to win by a half length and provide Smith with his first Derby victory in his 12th start.

“None of the Southern California races set up for him,” Smith said. “He ran in a tough year and didn't get credit for being as good as he was. But he was a really good horse. For him to come back (to Del Mar) the next year and win the San Diego Handicap was really something.”

Giacomo went into the 2006 San Diego Handicap winless in four starts following the Kentucky Derby. He was the sixth Derby winner to race at Del Mar, but only fourth choice in a field of eight at 5-1 on the morning line. Reminiscent of the Derby, he made a gritty stretch run and prevailed over Bob Baffert trainee Preachinathebar by a head in the final jump.

“He might have redeemed himself today. And he might have redeemed me too,” Smith said after the race.

“It was like the Derby again wasn't it,” Shirreffs said. “He won the Derby, so anything (negative) anybody said about him has gone in one ear and out the other.”

The win by Giacomo was the 15th of a now 70 total stakes victories in 19 seasons at Del Mar, 10th all time, for Smith. It was the fifth stakes win for Shirreffs, who has added 11 more in subsequent years, three of them coming in consecutive runnings of the Clement L. Hirsch (2008, '09, '10) by his marvelous mare Zenyatta.

What does Smith think of riding in a Kentucky Derby prep at Del Mar?

“It's very different, but this has been a very different kind of year,” the rider said.

That makes it unanimous.

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Honor A.P. Faces Off With Baffert Duo in Shared Belief

Honor A.P. (Honor Code) looks to add more GI Kentucky Derby points to his collection in Saturday’s Shared Belief S. at Del Mar. An impressive second-out graduate when extending from six panels to a mile at Santa Anita in October, the $850,000 FTSAUG buy was runner-up to recent GI Haskell Invitational S. victor Authentic (Into Mischief) in the GII San Felipe S. Mar. 7. The dark bay turned the tables on that rival last time with a decisive score in the GI Santa Anita Derby June 6.

Bob Baffert had three set for this test, but undefeated ‘TDN Rising Star’ and GIII Los Alamitos Derby winner Uncle Chuck (Uncle Mo) has been re-routed to the GI Runhappy Travers S. Aug. 8 instead. That leaves Thousand Words (Pioneerof the Nile) and Cezanne (Curlin) to represent the Hall of Famer. Opening his account with a trio of wins, including the GII Los Alamitos Futurity and GIII Robert B. Lewis S., Thousand Words was fourth in the San Felipe and faded to 11th in the Oaklawn S. Apr. 11. Given a brief freshening, the $1-million KEESEP buy ran second to his stablemate in the Los Al Derby last time.

Cezanne puts his undefeated record on the line here. A debut winner sprinting in Arcadia June 6, the $3.65-million FTFMAR topper captured a one-mile event at Los Alamitos last time July 2.

Also a defecting from the field is Santa Anita Derby fourth-place finisher Anneau d’Or (Medaglia d’Oro), who will instead contest the Aug. 9 Ellis Park Derby. Kiss Today Goodbye (Cairo Prince) rounds out the now four-horse field. Breaking his maiden at fifth asking at Santa Anita Feb. 22, he was 10th last time in an optional claimer there May 17.

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