Buick will ride California Chrome at Royal Ascot

CYPRESS, Calif. - William Buick, who rode Prince Bishop to victory in the $10 million Dubai World Cup in March, has been named to ride California Chrome in the Group 1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot in England on June 17, trainer Art Sherman said on Sunday.

Sherman said last week that he hoped Buick would be available to ride California Chrome in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes. The booking was confirmed over the weekend. California Chrome, the 2014 Horse of the Year, was second in the Dubai World Cup in his most recent start.

Frankie Dettori, who won the English Derby on Saturday with Golden Horn, worked California Chrome at Ascot last Thursday and was considered a candidate for the mount on California Chrome. Instead, Dettori will ride Western Hymn, who is trained by John Gosden. Dettori is closely allied with Gosden, who trains Golden Horn.

Buick, 26, replaces Victor Espinoza, who is not scheduled to travel to England for the Royal Ascot races. Espinoza has been the regular rider of California Chrome since December 2013, a span that includes wins in the Santa Anita Derby, Kentucky Derby, and Preakness Stakes.

California Chrome was fourth in the 2014 Belmont Stakes, failing to complete the Triple Crown. Espinoza won the Triple Crown with American Pharoah on Saturday, the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978.

California Chrome has been based with trainer Rae Guest in Newmarket, England, since early April. Sherman, and his son and assistant, Alan, have been in frequent contact with Guest in recent months. Alan Sherman traveled to England last week to watch California Chrome’s buildup to the Prince of Wales’s Stakes. Art Sherman is scheduled to leave for England on Tuesday.

Alan “said he came out of the work in good shape,” Sherman said. “I’ll watch him train. I’m looking forward to that.”

Owned by Perry Martin and Steve Coburn, California Chrome has won 9 of 18 starts and earned $6,322,650.

As of Sunday, California Chrome was listed as the 10-1 fourth choice with the British bookmaker Coral for the $800,205 Prince of Wales’s Stakes. The 7-2 favorite is Free Eagle, who was third in the Group 1 Champion Stakes at Ascot last October.