THE most hotly anticipated showdown of 2015 produced a clear victory for Shared Belief over reigning Horse of the Year California Chrome in the nine furlong $500,000 Grade 2 San Antonio Invitational Stakes at Santa Anita Park last Saturday.

Second choice California Chrome, leading by a length at the turn for home, could not withstand the charge of even-money favourite Shared Belief, who responded to a couple of left-handed cracks of the whip from jockey Mike Smith.

Before a crowd of 21,522, Shared Belief surged past in the final furlong under a hand ride on his way to a convincing win by a length and a half. Hoppertunity finished six and a half lengths behind California Chrome in third. “I can’t even describe that performance,” Smith said. “He ranks right up there with the top five horses I have ever been on, with room to grow. It really was so impressive. There’s no telling what this horse can do or the potential that he can reach.”

Owned by Jim Rome’s Jungle Racing and partners and trained by Jerry Hollendorfer, Shared Belief, the two-year-old champion of 2013, registered his ninth win from 10 career starts.

His only career loss was a fourth place finish after a rough trip in the 2014 Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic.

Hollendorfer said he did not see the race as vindication for Shared Belief after the Eclipse Awards snub. “No, I’m just happy to win this race and that’s the honest truth. I don’t care what happened before. I care what happened right now and what happens in the future. California Chrome has a big following, deservedly so. He deserved to be Horse of the Year. If things had gone a little bit different, I might have got a chance, but you can’t always get things to go your way.”

“Jerry’s horse is the real McCoy. My horse is very good, too; we just got outrun,” said Art Sherman, California Chrome’s trainer. “My horse ran his heart out and I’m proud of my horse. He didn’t give up; he ran his eyeballs out.”

“I had a good trip. For two months off, it was a good race for him, a good effort,” Espinoza said of his ride on California Chrome. “He will be better the next race.”

Another meeting between Shared Belief and California Chrome won’t be happening in the near future, trainers for the two horses made clear in comments the next day.

Shared Belief will be pointed to the $1 million Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap on March 7th and California Chrome will be aimed for the $10 million Group 1 Dubai World Cup on March 28th at Meydan.

“Hopefully they get to meet again,” commented jockey Mike Smith. “They’re two great champions, they’re going to battle back and forth. Hopefully we see a race between the three of them again, Shared Belief, California Chrome and Bayern.”