John Shirreffs | Horse Racing Free Tips

Reversal Of Fortune For Top Two Finishers In Shared Belief

Approaching the track to greet his returning Shared Belief Stakes winner Thousand Words, Bob Baffert couldn't help but smile and say, “We don't need Uncle Chuck.”

Then, with his next breath: “That was weird. That was a weird run race.”

Statements that fairly well summed up the Shared Belief at Del Mar, a Kentucky Derby prep race for the first, and let us pray last, time ever. The COVID-19-necessitated move of the Run for the Roses to September 5 put the Shared Belief in line as a prelim for West Coast-based Derby hopes and made it a spot for Baffert to choose from his array of 3-year-old standouts and John Shirreffs to run Santa Anita Derby winner Honor A.P.

Baffert entered three – undefeated (2-for-2) Uncle Chuck and Cezanne plus Thousand Words, whose Derby stock had dipped with three straight defeats. He worked Uncle Chuck on Saturday morning in preparation for the $1 million Travers Stakes next Saturday at Saratoga and scratched him from the Shared Belief.

The race then unfolded strangely with 1-5 favorite Honor A.P. getting bumped at the start by Cezanne, moving up to press the pace set by Thousand Words on the backstretch before dropping a length behind, going three paths wide turning into the stretch and surging too late to catch the wire-to-wire leader and losing by three-quarters of a length.

“You wouldn't think a Baffert horse is gonna pay $20 (actually $20.40) in a four-horse field,” Baffert said with a wry grin. His assessment: something about Del Mar had brought out the best in Thousand Words.

“I thought he had a chance to win today,” Baffert said. “I could tell he was a different horse down here. His whole mind changed. His color changed. He had soured out on me, but we got him going the right way. I think he earned his way to the Derby.”

The 50 Kentucky Derby qualifying points from the Shared Belief increased Thousand Words' total to 83 and vaulted him to No. 7 on the list. The opportunity is there should the owners – Albaugh Family Stables of Dennis Albaugh and Jason Loustch, and B. Wayne Hughes' Spendthirft Farm – choose. It appears to be a logical path toward recouping more of the $1-million spent on the colt at the Keeneland September sale in 2018.

Thousand Words was accorded a Beyer Speed Figure of 104, which was 13 points higher than the son of Pioneerof the Nile's previous best in the Los Alamitos Futurity last December. Honor A.P. received a Beyer of 102, identical to his number in the Santa Anita Derby victory.

Honor A.P.'s 140 Derby points is third behind Belmont Stakes winner Tiz the Law (272) and Baffert's recent Haskell Invitational champ Authentic (200).

“If you liked Honor A.P. as your Derby horse before, it (Shared Belief) didn't change anything,” Daily Racing Form correspondent Brad Free said Sunday morning.

Mike Smith, aboard for all five of Honor A.P.'s starts, was quick to point out one change in the routine leading up to the race. Due to COVID-19 protocols, jockeys are prohibited from access to the stable area in the mornings and cannot ride workouts. Trainer John Shirreffs tried unsuccessfully to get an exemption so Smith could be aboard for the colt's final work a week before the race.

“I haven't been able to get on him in the mornings and I think that's made a difference,” Smith said. “He's just been going along there not doing much in the mornings. I need to be on him. But that's the way it is now; just the way it is.”

Shirreffs' comment, provided by text: “Horses know the difference between an exercise rider and a jockey so they respond differently in their work. Jockeys also have the acute awareness of the horses' effort. Trainers prepare horses by increasing workloads. The riders have to communicate to the horses in subtle situations of asking for a little more or saying that's enough for today.

“Why take the best we have and not allow them to help horses?”

Thousand Words and Honor A.P. both came out of the race well, their trainers said. Cezanne was “a little tired” after losing stamina in the 1 1/16-mile race.

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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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Shirreffs Sends Honor A.P. Out For ‘Practice’ Before Shared Belief Stakes

Santa Anita Derby winner Honor A.P. led a group of talented 3-year-olds, several with Kentucky Derby potential, in workouts Saturday morning at Del Mar. Honor A.P. and two Bob Baffert trainees, Cezanne and Thousand Words, were undergoing their final major exercise for next Saturday's $100,000 Shared Belief Stakes, which has qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby.

The COVID-19 outbreak forced the Run for the Roses to be rescheduled from its traditional first Saturday in May spot to the first Saturday in September.

Honor A.P., trained by John Shirreffs for the C R K Stable of Lee and Susan Searing, went after the second track renovation break, arriving around 8 a.m. under exercise rider Francisco Alvarado. The son of Honor Code worked with 4-year-old winner Takeo, spotting his stablemate a four-length head start before drawing even at the head of the stretch and pulling away.

Del Mar clockers had Honor A.P. with interim fractions of :24.80, :36.60, and an official five-eighths in 1:01.20 while galloping out to six furlongs in 1:14.20.

“From my angle he went 11 (seconds) and change or 12 the last eighth,” Shirreffs commented via text. “The work was practice.”

Unbeaten (2-for-2) Cezanne and Thousand Words, winner of the Grade II Los Alamitos Futurity in December and Grade III Robert B. Lewis in February, worked side-by-side for six furlongs in 1:13.80.

Hollywood Gold Cup winner Improbable, being targeted for the Whitney Stakes at Saratoga a week away, was clocked in 1:25.80 in a work slightly compromised when another horse ran loose and alarm sirens were sounded.

“The track I think is a little slow today, but I'm pleased with all of them,” Baffert said. “The loose horse screwed up Improbable's work, but he'll be all right.”

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Honor A. P. To Stand At Lane’s End Upon Retirement

Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby winner Honor A. P. (Honor Code–Hollywood Story, by Wild Rush) will be retired to Lane's End Farm upon the conclusion of his racing career, the farm announced today. The 3-year-old is from the first crop by his sire, who also stands at Lane's End, and is his highest earner.

Honor A. P. has finished first or second in each of his four starts, winning the G1 Santa Anita Derby in his last outing June 6, and establishing himself as a favorite for the Sept. 5 Kentucky Derby.

“He's a horse that we have had an eye on since David Ingordo bought him as a yearling for Lee and Susan Searing's CRK Stable,” said Bill Farish. “He was a standout at Saratoga and at $850,000 ended up being the highest priced yearling in Honor Code's first crop. April Mayberry was quietly touting him while being broken and John Shirreffs has been high on him since he arrived at Santa Anita. We are very excited to secure another prospect from the A.P. Indy line. As is the case with most of our stallions, having a strong syndicate behind them is very important to their success. We are emboldened by the quality of the syndicate that has come together to support him. His looks, pedigree and his growing resume as a top racehorse gives him a great chance to be a successful sire.”

Honor A. P. debuted Aug. 17, 2019 at Del Mar, racing greenly to be second. He won his next start at Santa Anita in October as the 2-5 favorite, drawing away to win by 5 1/4 lengths. Before he could race in 2020, he suffered a stone bruise in February which briefly sidelined him, and he was second in his comeback and 2020 debut to Authentic in the G3 San Felipe on March 7. He subsequently defeated the previously unbeaten Authentic next out in the G1 Santa Anita Derby, while posting a 102 Beyer, the highest of any three-year old colt currently on the Derby trail.

His trainer, John Shirreffs, said, “I think we started seeing something in Honor A. P. when he started to gallop, and he started to lengthen his stride. If you ever see him, he just floats over the ground. He's only just begun to show his potential.”

“We named Honor A. P. in homage to his grandsire, the breed shaping A.P. Indy” said Lee Searing. “It has always been my goal to race a horse of this caliber and to stand him at Lane's End. I plan to keep an interest in Honor A. P. and help make him a top stallion.”

Honor A. P. is out of the multiple Grade 1 stakes winner Hollywood Story, who earned $1,171,105 in her career. He is a half-sibling to three black-type or graded black-type winners. Hollywood Story has produced yearling and weanling fillies by Curlin and Tapit, respectively, in the past two breeding seasons.

His sire, Honor Code, was one of 36 foals from the last crop of A.P. Indy and is currently the second-leading second-crop sire in the country. His dam's sire Wild Rush, like Honor Code a previous winner of the G1 Met Mile, hails from the Icecapade line, was eventually exported to Japan, and has produced 28 stakes winners out of his daughters. Honor A. P. will have one more start before the Kentucky Derby September 5.

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