“It’s alchemy, in Dubai Chrome turns to gold”
California Chrome is the National Thoroughbred Racing Association’s Top Thoroughbred in its weekly poll. With a pool of turf writers and broadcaster voters, this poll is for the most-likely Horse of the Year Eclipse Award winner.
California Chrome last raced in this country back in January at Santa Anita, where he trounced his rivals in the San Pasqual Stakes. From there he shipped over to Dubai where he won a prep race before his successful second try in the $10 million Dubai World Cup. This year California Chrome was stronger, more seasoned and ran like he had afterburners.
After the race, jockey Victor Espinoza pulled Chrome up and hopped off to adjust his wayward tack. All eyes were on the saddle and girth that by the homestretch had slipped far back toward Chrome’s hips. Normally this would send a horse off on a bucking spree. Chrome was so focused on his race, he didn’t react; he ran. In a press conference after the World Cup, Espinoza made a wry understatement when he said, “The wire was not coming fast enough.”
California Chrome: runs like a boss
California Chrome’s Triple Crown campaign was outstanding. The big red horse won the 2014 Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes. He failed to complete the Triple Crown with a disappointing fourth in the Belmont Stakes.
In 2015, Chrome went abroad. He earned second place in the Dubai World Cup, then shipped to Newmarket, England to train for the Royal Ascot meet. His stay there was fraught; he was withdrawn from the Prince of Wales Stakes because of a foot bruise. Chrome came back to the U.S., was let down for a couple of months then brought back into training for his January 2016 start.
Chrome hasn’t raced since returning home to Los Alamitos Race Course, California, after a post-Dubai break at Taylor Made Farm near Lexington, Kentucky. He has three consistent works on the tab. After the World Cup, his co-owner Perry Martin said Chrome was pointed to the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic in November and possibly the $12 million Pegasus World Cup in January, 2017. If he wins those two races, his 2016 paycheck would be in excess of $9 million, with lifetime earnings north of $20 million. That’s a lot of carrots.
After racing, Chrome will retire to the breeding shed at Taylor Made.
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NTRA poll results
NTRA 10 leading horses of all ages in the Top Thoroughbred Poll are:
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