Jonathan Lintner

@JonathanLintner

A highly anticipated matchup of Kentucky Derby winner California Chrome and undefeated 3-year-old Shared Belief may not have to wait until November’s Breeders’ Cup Classic.

Connections to Shared Belief, who ran away with Sunday’s Grade I Pacific Classic at Del Mar, are considering joining California Chrome in the Grade II Pennsylvania Derby Sept. 20 at Parx Racing, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Dan Ward, assistant to Shared Belief trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, said Monday that the Pennsylvania Derby is “an option when you consider it’s 27 days and it gives you more time to the Breeders’ Cup” than Santa Anita’s Grade I Awesome Again, which falls on Sept. 27.

It doesn’t hurt that the Pennsylvania Derby’s purse is $1 million, compared to the Awesome Again’s $250,000, and that Shared Belief already will have his entry fee and travel to the Breeders’ Cup Classic paid for thanks to his Pacific Classic win.

Asked by the Union-Tribune where he’d race next, Ward said, “I’d go to Pennsylvania.”

California Chrome’s connections are chasing the money to Parx Racing, where a Derby winner has never run after the first Saturday in May, as well. Both trainer Art Sherman and “Dumb Ass Partners” Steve Coburn and Perry Martin will receive $100,000 appearance fees — $50,000 apiece for their horse’s Derby and Preakness Stakes victories.

As for how the two top 3-year-olds stack up, Bovada.LV’s Breeders’ Cup Classic future odds released Tuesday give a slight edge to Shared Belief as a 15-4 favorite ahead of California Chrome at 4-1, Palace Malice at 6-1, Lea at 10-1 and then both Wicked Strong and Will Take Charge at 12-1.

Ultimately, it’s up to Shared Belief’s owners to determine where their star colt, who missed out on Triple Crown races due to a foot injury, will run next. That group includes Jim Rome, the national sports talk show host.

“The second Shared Belief crossed that finish line and survived that inquiry, the discussion started,” Rome said on his show Monday. “‘Can you beat California Chrome for Horse of the Year?’ I don’t know. But that’s the good thing about it.

“Assuming everything is right and both horses stay healthy, they’ll settle it on the track, not on Twitter, not in chat rooms, not in boards. The horses will do the talking and they’ll do it on the dirt. That’s the way it should be.”

Jonathan Lintner can be reached at (502) 582-4199. Follow him on Twitter @JonathanLintner.