$12 million race tempting owners of California Chrome, Beholder

ARCADIA, Calif. – California Chrome and Beholder may be part of the newly created $12 million Pegasus Cup at Gulfstream Park next January.

On Thursday, their respective trainers, Art Sherman and Richard Mandella, said the 1 1/8-mile Pegasus Cup could be the focal point of winter campaigns for their runners.

Sherman said California Chrome’s owners – Perry Martin and Taylor Made Farms – would not shy away from the $1 million starting fee for the Pegasus Cup, scheduled for Jan. 28. The race, which was announced Wednesday by Gulfstream and Santa Anita owner The Stronach Group, is designed to attract 12 runners whose owners fund the purse through $1 million starting fees.

“They’re all for it,” Sherman said. “The $12 million is a lot of money.”

Mandella said he’s certain to discuss the race with B. Wayne Hughes, who owns Beholder.

“That meets my price,” he said of the purse. “It would be up to Mr. Hughes. We’d have to sure think about it. But it’s an awful lot of money [to put up].”

California Chrome is on schedule for the $200,000 San Diego Handicap at Del Mar on July 23 and has progressed far enough in training for Sherman to plan a short workout at Los Alamitos on Saturday.

The 2014 Horse of the Year, California Chrome has not raced since winning the $10 million Dubai World Cup on March 26, the world’s richest race. The victory made the 5-year-old California Chrome the richest North American-based Thoroughbred, with career earnings of $12,532,650.

California Chrome spent much of April on vacation at Taylor Made Farms in Kentucky and returned to Sherman’s base at Los Alamitos on May 1. Sherman noted that California Chrome retained much of his fitness during the brief rest.

“He came back looking strong,” Sherman said. “In the 30 days off this time, he was running and playing in the paddock. It was a different type of fitness. He wasn’t fat.

“We’ll probably breeze him down the lane, let him go a quarter and maybe gallop out three-eighths.”

The Grade 2 San Diego Handicap is run at 1 1/16 miles and is a prep for the $1 million Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Aug. 20. Beholder won the 2015 Pacific Classic, her first start against males, by 8 1/4 lengths.

Last Sunday, Beholder won the Grade 3 Adoration Stakes in her first start of the year. After the race, Hughes said the 6-year-old Beholder could stay in training in 2017. On Thursday, Beholder went to the track with a pony. She is scheduled to start in the $400,000 Vanity Mile for fillies and mares at Santa Anita on June 4.