California Chrome, Arrogate make splendid impressions

ARCADIA, Calif. – California Chrome and Arrogate, the top two choices on the morning line for the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Saturday at Santa Anita, both gave every indication on Monday morning that they are set to give their best in their much-anticipated battle.

California Chrome merely galloped in his first morning here after traveling on Sunday from his base at Los Alamitos, but he looked terrific doing it, while Arrogate turned in a sensational workout in his final prep for the Classic. Effinex, the runner-up in last year’s Classic, also worked.

California Chrome came onto the track shortly before 7 a.m. and jogged a half-mile the wrong way before turning around for a gallop of nearly two miles, appearing to get stronger the farther he went.

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Trainer Art Sherman left open the possibility that California Chrome would blow out through the lane later this week if he became too much of a handful.

Arrogate doesn’t have nearly the résumé of California Chrome, but he is coming off a track-record performance in the Travers and is training like he’s going to run another monster race. He worked five furlongs in 59.39 seconds, according to Daily Racing Form’s Mike Welsch, and could not have been going any easier.

“Perfect, Martin,” trainer Bob Baffert said via radio to jockey Martin Garcia, who worked Arrogate.

Rafael Bejarano had been working Arrogate most recently, but Baffert had several horses working at around the same time Monday and chose to put Bejarano on Klimt, whom Bejarano rides in the Juvenile. Mike Smith has the mount on Arrogate in the Classic.

Baffert also entered Hoppertunity, the Jockey Club Gold Cup winner, in the Classic.

Effinex went an easy half-mile in 49.10 seconds under exercise rider Kelvin Pahal.

“I waved him on a little bit at the end,” said trainer Jimmy Jerkens, who also has Shaman Ghost in the Classic. “I had his last three-eighths in 36.”

Jerkens said Effinex is a funny horse to read.

“He’s a cribber,” Jerkens said, referring to a horse who grabs hold of a fixed object, like a stall door, with his front teeth and sucks in air, “so he fills up with air. Sometimes he looks heavy, sometimes he looks skinnier. He doesn’t need much when he works. He does his best when he doesn’t work fast.”

Breeders’ Cup Classic entrant Keen Ice, trained by Todd Pletcher, was scheduled fly here on Tuesday, making him among the last of the Breeders’ Cup runners to arrive.