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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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Thousand Words Re-Enters Kentucky Derby Picture, Beating Honor A.P. In Shared Belief

Albaugh Family Stables and Spendthrift Farm's Thousand Words made every pole a winner Saturday in upsetting the $100,000 Shared Belief Stakes by three-quarters of a length at Del Mar near San Diego, Calif. In the process, he may have bought himself a ticket to the 2020 Kentucky Derby, to be run on Sept. 5 at Churchill Downs.

The Pioneerof the Nile colt, ridden by Abel Cedillo and trained by Bob Baffert, took the lead right out of the gate and held off all challenges, including one from the 1-5 favorite Honor A.P. under Mike Smith. The latter was bumped from the outside coming out of the starting gate by Cezanne, a Baffert-trained stablemate of the winner who veered inwardly at the break under Flavien Prat.

The 1 1/16-mile feature went with only four runners when two of its 3-year-olds — Uncle Chuck and Anneau d'Or — were scratched Saturday morning.

“He (trainer Bob Baffert) just told me to warm him up real well, then get him out of there,” said Cedillo. “Then see what happens. He broke well and I saw I could take the lead, so I did. He was going along there steady, steady, steady. Then we got it done.”

“I told Abel (Cedillo) to jump him out of there and I thought he and Cezanne would be 1-2,” said Baffert. “Turning for home I could tell that Honor A.P. wasn't running like he usually does. Cezanne got really tired, but Thousand Words … I could tell when we got down here that he was a different horse from Los Alamitos and the real Thousand Words showed up today. His whole mind changed. His color has changed. He had soured out on me, but we got him going the right way. I think he earned his way to the Derby.”

With the victory, Thousand Words earned 50 Kentucky Derby qualifying points, and now ranks seventh on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard among potential runners, with 83 points.

Updated Kentucky Derby points leaderboard

Thousand Words covered the distance in 1:43.85 after setting fractions of :23.89, :47.93, 1:12.33 and 1:37.44. He returned $20.40 and $3.40. Honor A.P. returned $2.10 to place. There was no show betting.

John Sondereker's Kiss Today Goodbye finished third and Coolmore partners' Cezanne was fourth and last.

Thousand Words earned $60,000 for his tally and pushed his bankroll to $327,000, after winning his fourth race in his seventh start. Produced from the Pomeroy mare, Pomeroys Pistol, he was bred in Florida by Hardacre Farm and sold for $1 million by Brookdale Sales at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

The stakes win is the third of the meet for rider Cedillo, but his first in the Shared Belief. He now has five stakes wins at Del Mar.

As for Honor A.P., Mike Smith said: “He ran well, but we're disappointed he didn't win. I haven't been able to get on him in the mornings and I think that's made a difference. He's just been going along there not doing much in the mornings. I need to be on him and get more out of him. But that's the way it is now; that's just the way it is. This distance (mile and one-sixteenth) is too short for him, too. Just not his day.”

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Connections Of Private Purchase South Bend ‘Seriously Thinking’ Travers

Having recently been purchased and moved to the barn of Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, stakes-winning sophomore South Bend is being pointed to the Grade 1, $1 million Runhappy Travers August 8 at Saratoga as the debut for his new connections.

Campaigned by Sagamore Farm through his first 11 starts, including a victory in the Street Sense last fall at Churchill Downs and Grade 3 placings on both turf and dirt, South Bend was acquired by a partnership group that includes Gary Barber, Adam Wachtel, Peter Deutsch and Leonard Schleifer of Pantofel Stable.

“I think that's one of the reasons they bought him,” Mott said. “He looks good on both surfaces.”

Mott said the focus for now is on dirt, namely the 1 ¼-mile Mid-Summer Derby, the centerpiece of the Saratoga meet being contested for the 151st time but first as a point qualifier for the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby September 5.

“We're leaning toward the Travers. The partnership group wants to have a good look at that,” Mott said. “We're seriously thinking of the Travers right now. He'll work probably the first part of the week.”

South Bend has already had one breeze for Mott, a half-mile move in 49.12 seconds on July 27 over the Oklahoma training track, fifth-fastest of 31 horses at the distance. Third in the Grade 3 Palm Beach in February at Gulfstream Park in his second try on turf, the bay Algorithms colt exits a rallying runner-up finish in the Grade 3, 1 1/8-mile Ohio Derby on June 27 at Thistledown in his return to dirt, posting a career-high 94 Beyer Speed Figure.

“We breezed him the one time. We like the horse, he's doing well,” Mott said. “He's a nice horse to train. He moves well and he worked well for us. I'm happy with him.”

On Saturday, Mott will send out multiple Grade 1 winner Channel Maker for Barber, Wachtel, Reeves Thoroughbred Racing and R. A. Hill Stable in the Grade 2, $250,000 Bowling Green. The gelded 6-year-old son of grass champion English Channel drew post 5 of seven in the 1 3/8-mile event for 4-year-olds and up on the inner turf course.

With Mott since the spring of 2017, Channel Maker owns a 5-5-3 career record with nearly $2.2 million in purse earnings from 33 starts. He earned his first graded victory in a dead-heat triumph with Glorious Empire in the 2018 Bowling Green, winning the Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic that fall and the Grade 1 Man o' War the following spring, each at Belmont Park.

Channel Maker has gone winless since the Man o' War, a stretch of nine races, all but one in Grade 1 or Grade 2 company. Three of those losses have come by a length or less, the most recent coming last out when he finished fourth in the Grade 1 Manhattan on July 4 at Belmont.

“Sometimes he's been a little overmatched, but when he finds the right group he's competitive,” Mott said. “He seems to be doing well. He's run over this course OK. He's competitive when he fires his best shot and gets the right trip. We're happy with him and we're optimistic.”

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Sole Volante To Train Up To Kentucky Derby; Ete Indien Suffers Setback

Trainer Patrick Biancone spoke to Horse Racing Nation about his two Kentucky Derby hopefuls on Tuesday, laying out his decision to train Sole Volante up to the Sept. 5 race and revealing that Ete Indien had suffered a setback in his training.

Ete Indien, the 3-year-old Summer Front colt whose record includes a win in the G2 Fountain of Youth, is now “50-50” to make the Run for the Roses. Biancone said he would not rush Ete Indien, and the next 10 days will be vital to determining whether the colt remains on the Kentucky Derby trail.

Meanwhile, plans for Sole Volante will take advantage of the 2 1/2 months between the Belmont Stakes and the Derby. The Karakontie colt won the G3 Sam Davis before finishing second in the G2 Tampa Bay Derby, then won a Gulfstream allowance race over the favored Ete Indien in early June. Ten days later, Biancone sent Sole Volante to New York to run in the Belmont Stakes, only to see him finish a disappointing sixth.

“I got stupid to run him,” Biancone told Horse Racing Nation. “I misjudged the energy level and the inside nervousness. He's usually a very cool horse. So we took a shot. I made a wrong decision. We spent $30,000 on the plane to fly the horse (from Florida to New York). But anyway, it's done. What can I do? Nobody's perfect. I got it wrong that time.”

Sole Volante will now train up to the Kentucky Derby, and Biancone hopes that his 30 points will be enough to secure the colt a spot in the starting gate. As it stands, Sole Volante is 20th on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard, while Ete Indien is eighth with 74 points. Biancone said he would not chase more points with Sole Volante, and intends to bring him to the Derby fresh.