California Chrome Update

By: Claudia Lorena

It’s hard to watch the replay of last year’s Belmont Stakes without a heavy heart. “It won’t be a Triple Crown this year,” Larry Collmus shouted in his call for NBC. Tears are streaming down my cheeks, and it’s like I’m reliving the moment all over again. No matter how many times I watch it, it doesn’t get any easier. Half way down the stretch, California Chrome had been defeated by 1 ¾ lengths. The loss was hard to bear because the story was one that was unheard of in the sport of kings – it was a story straight out of a fairytale and it was every bit as inspirational as one could have imagined.

Every year thousands of thoroughbreds are sold at auctions, ranging in the five to seven figures. California Chrome was not one of those horses. The colt had less than impressive bloodlines, and industry pros assured he would never be a winning horse. His owners, Steve Coburn and Perry Martin, both hard-working men, were outsiders to the racing industry, with ordinary families, chasing a not so ordinary dream. 77-year-old Art Sherman had never trained a winning horse and was said to be too old by industry standards.

From December of 2013 to the spring of 2014, California Chrome and his team of industry “misfits” turned their dream into reality, achieving what an entire industry had deemed impossible – winning the first two legs of the Triple Crown and going into the Belmont Stakes as the heavy favorite. In all essence their story won the hearts of Americans because they didn’t represent the billionaires… They represented the people; they represented the underdogs; they represented what this very nation was built on – courage, imagination, and unbeatable determination to accomplish the impossible.

Today, California Chrome has gone global, taking on worldly competition in far off lands. No, he hasn’t seen a win since his romp on the grass in the Hollywood Derby, but Chrome reminded us why we fell in love with him when he finished a solid second in the $10,000,000 Dubai World Cup back in March – half way across the world, running lasix-free in the middle of the desert.

Ever since then, the 2014 Horse of the Year has been hanging on the British countryside, prepping to race at Royal Ascot. “He’s been doing great,” expressed a friendly Steve Coburn over the phone. “He spent two weeks [after Dubai] just eating and sleeping in New Market. He’s put on weight and lots of muscle and has really taken to their way of training over there.”

The Coburn’s fly out of LAX on June 8th to join California Chrome in England. The colt is set to run on June 17th in the Prince of Wales Stakes, on the grass, going clockwise – and he’ll face some of the best turf horses in the world. Some people only dream to run their horses in half the races on California Chrome’s record. For Steve Coburn this is waking life – real and surreal bundled up together. Chrome is expected to wind down for two weeks before returning stateside. After that, “he’ll be in quarantine in Illinois,” said Coburn. “Then, we’ll be sitting down to discuss where he’ll run next. All that matters to me is that he’s happy and healthy.”

Photos courtesy of Alex Evers

Follow Claudia on Twitter @Claudia_WMS