Being based mostly in Southern California, California Chrome had rarely, if ever, seen a wet track. During his Triple Crown run, California Chrome has seen his share of them in Kentucky, Baltimore, and especially here in New York.
California Chrome’s equanimity served him well Friday at Belmont Park, where an opossum dashed across the track while he was out for his routine gallop. He didn’t even flinch.
Preakness runner-up Ride On Curlin will have his third rider in as many Triple Crown races when John Velazquez pilots him in the Belmont Stakes.
Danza, the Arkansas Derby winner and third-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby, will not run in the June 7 Belmont Stakes, trainer Todd Pletcher said Tuesday afternoon.
Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner California Chrome, along with Preakness runner-up Ride On Curlin, arrived at Belmont Park just after 10:45 a.m. Tuesday following a van ride of almost five hours from Baltimore.
When California Chrome goes for a sweep of the Triple Crown in the Belmont Stakes on June 7, it appears that he will face 10 or 11 challengers, almost all of whom he defeated in the Kentucky Derby and/or the Preakness.
Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner California Chrome will be able to wear a nasal strip for the June 7 Belmont Stakes and all horses competing at New York Racing Association tracks will be able to wear them, effectively immediately, according to a press release issued Monday by the New York State Gaming Commission.
The connections of dual classic winner California Chrome will have to meet with the New York stewards to formally request they be able to equip the horse with nasal strips when he bids for the Triple Crown in the June 7 Belmont Stakes.
As Ride On Curlin walked behind California Chrome in the shed row of the Pimlico stakes barn Sunday morning, the irony of his place in the pecking order was not lost on trainer Billy Gowan.
As Ride On Curlin walked behind California Chrome in the shed row of the Pimlico stakes barn Sunday morning, the irony of his place in the pecking order was not lost on trainer Billy Gowan.
