California Chrome Proves He belongs
Saturday, May 3rd, the day of the 140th running of the Kentucky Derby, California Chrome, a 3-year-old chestnut colt with a lot of chrome and a sparkle in his eye shot out of the starting gate and galloped down the mile and a quarter track, racing past hundreds of thousands of spectators in the grandstands under the Twin Spires of Churchill Downs.
He ate up the track, crossing the finish line and posting a winning time of 2.03 2/5 seconds. While racing officials were quick to point out that his winning time is the slowest Derby time since Cannonade in 1974 , the only thing that really matters is that California Chrome won and smoked his competition with seemingly minimal effort.
Just two short weeks following the Kentucky Derby California Chrome made his way to Pimlico to take on Derby rivals Ride on Curlin and General A Rod, along with seven other new horses eager to diminish his chances of winning the Preakness Stakes and take him out of contention for a Triple Crown victory. But California Chrome had plans of his own and decided to make his bold move earlier than, jockey, Victor Espinoza had anticipated.
“He was in control throughout the entire race,” Espinoza told reporters, “It was a very hard race for me both mentally and physically because the speed horses we expected to come out in front and set the pace were not there.” This was absolutely true because who would have thought that out of all of the contenders Ria Antonia and Pablo Del Monte would come out of the gate so fast and shoot to the front of the pack, holding the lead for the first half of the race. Ria Antonia shot out of the starting gate at lightning speed and completely jumped in front of Bayern, who was then also squashed from left by Ring Weekend and forced to stay behind in order to further avoid getting sandwiched between the two and prevent a further nasty collision. An unfortunate start for the big bay that ultimately caused him and, jockey, Rosie Napravnik to finish 9th.
When the speed horses finally decided to join California Chrome in the front position, Espinoza had to improvise and asked the 3-year-old colt to make his move slightly earlier than normal, adding, “Once you’re in a good position and you have the lead, you never want to give up your spot.”
Asking California Chrome to pick up the pace just a bit, in order to ward off Social Inclusion, worked out nicely, but Ride On Curlin — sire Curlin won the Preakness in 2007 — made a last minute move during the final stretch. Coming in hot from the outside and showing a willingness to catch Chrome just yards from the finish. “It was a very mentally exhausting race for me because I had to keep thinking of new strategies at all times.”
But California Chrome was in it to win it and he crossed the wire 1 1/2 lengths ahead of Ride On Curlin, finishing in second with a 6 1/2 length lead over Social Inclusion (third).
If you played and hit the trifecta, congratulations! Handicapping races is not an easy thing to do and involves complex analysis of several important factors. If you did your homework, it was evident that the top three finishers had it in them to be up with the California-bred colt favorite.
A joyful Espinoza shared, “He ran a very good race today. I am very proud.”
Posting an official final time of 1:54.84 — a VERY good time for the Preakness Stakes — California Chrome put an end to the negative critiques officials had expressed regarding his winning Kentucky Derby time of 2:03.66.
Now thousands, if not millions, will eagerly be awaiting the arrival of June 7th, when a string of high quality contenders will join California Chrome to face off in the longest race they will ever run — The Test Of The Champion — The Belmont Stakes.
By: Claudia Lorena
Check out California Chrome’s three most recent races and wins below.
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