An Eclipse Award for Shared Belief?

Shared Belief winning the Grade 1 Cash Call Futurity at Hollywood Park (Benoit Photo)

With his dynamic win in the Cash Call Futurity (Grade 1) this past Saturday at Hollywood Park, Shared Belief put himself and his connections smack dab in the middle of the Triple Crown discussion for next year; he is already being called the 2014 Kentucky Derby favorite at the moment.

Hard to argue with that, as he is now 3 for 3, with each victory - two of them in graded stakes - a romp, with winning margins of 7 lengths in his maden win at Golden Gate, 7 and 3/4 lengths in the Gr. 3 Hollywood Prevue and last weekend by 5 and 3/4 lengths. But let's face it, despite the fact that he is being conditioned by Hall-of-Famer Jerry Hollendorfer, it's still five months until the Kentucky Derby, and bottom line, we've seen this before. There are just too many other horses out there and too many things that can happen between now and the first Saturday in May. Shared Belief may not even make the starting gate that day, although we certainly hope so. (Interestingly, Hollendorfer was quoted a few days ago as saying, "I hate putting a horse on the Kentucky Derby trail." Ominous words?)

But one thing is for certain - Shared Belief has to be considered one of the two logical choices for an Eclipse Award for 2 year-old colt. The other, of course, is New Year's Day, winner of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita. Trained by Bob Baffert, this horse has done everything right.

Before last Saturday, almost anyone would have told you that New Year's Day had locked up the Eclipse award that first Saturday in November at Santa Anita; after all, capture the Breeders' Cup Juvenile after a maiden win and you've accomplished a great deal.

So who gets the award? Certainly there will be some who say that New Year's Day benefitted greatly that day from his inside post, as favorites Havana and Strong Mandate were stuck in post positions 13 and 14 respectively. After watching this race, it it obvious that those two horses had much more to deal with than New Year's Day in terms of the actual race. 

Does that take away from the race run by New Year's Day? Maybe, maybe not. One thing for sure is that New Year's Day beat the best 2 year olds that day. His camp could argue that Shared Belief, while very impressive, defeated a nice group of horses in the Cash Call Futurity, but it wasn't the Breeders' Cup. 

I'm glad I don't have to vote, as I honestly wouldn't know whom to pick. My guess is that New Year's Day will win the award. But as I've said in the past, I've been wrong before.

Text ©Tom Hyland