Dihigi Gladney Confident in California Chrome

Gladney Confident in Chrome; McLaughlin Hopeful in Frosted

By: Claudia L. Ruiz

The horse to beat in today’s Breeders’ Cup Classic is a chestnut. Perhaps you’ve heard of him? His name is California Chrome. Following the scratch of Woodward Stakes winner Shaman Ghost, the 2014 Horse of the Year will take on eight other horses and will come face to face with record breaking Travers Stakes winner Arrogate for the very first time.

With the weight the Breeders’ Cup Classic carries towards end of the year honors, there’s quite a bit on the line. For Arrogate, a win could signify top 3-year-old honors. For California Chrome, a win could mean Top Older Male or Horse of the Year.

Yet, connections of the chestnut remain at ease, confident in the 5-year-old’s abilities and his chances of coming out on top.

Exercise rider Dihigi Gladney is feeling particularly good about the race. “He feels really good,” Gladney stated on Thursday morning. “When we go out [in the mornings], I get him on the track and just let him stand for a while, then I’ll take him around the track. Thursday morning, there was a mob of people standing along the rail. As soon as he saw them, he started to get excited. The attention gets him going.”

Gladney has been riding California Chrome since October of 2015, when the chestnut returned to training following a cannon bone bruise sustained last summer.

“I’m the only one who has been on his back — other than Victor — since he came back from the farm [in Kentucky]. Victor only gets on him for the races and he trusts me to keep him fit and have him ready.”

The difference in California Chrome’s condition is noticeable to the untrained eye, and it is even more so to the man who sits on his back.

“I can feel a big difference in his fitness and his condition. I think, when we went to Dubai, he really got fit over there because he had to travel so far to get to the track and train,” Gladney said, referring to earlier this year when California Chrome spent a couple of months in Dubai to prepare for the Dubai World Cup. “That walk alone is about 2 ½ miles. Leandro Mora, who trains for Doug O’Neill, clocked the walk one time because we were all curious of how far it really was. After all of that walking, we still had to train and then walk all the way back to the barn; so, it was like a 7-mile training session, 4-5 days per week. He built up stamina over there. Actually, we all did!”

Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin, who won the $1,000,000 Las Vegas Dirt Mile with Tamarkuz on November 4, will run brilliant Met Mile winner Frosted in the Classic today, and though he would like to win the race, he acknowledges it will be tough.”I have a lot of respect for California Chrome; he is the horse to beat and this is his home track.”

Frosted, on the other hand, will make his first start on the Santa Anita dirt and will need to show up in a big way this evening if he plans to outrun the favorite. “I know he’s got his work cut out for him, but he’s been training great [leading into the race]. He hasn’t raced in sixty days and he’s run his best on this schedule. I think he’s sitting on a big one.”

The $6,000,000 Breeders’ Cup Classic is set to break from the gate at 5:35 PM PST.