California Chrome finally back in action in San Pasqual
ARCADIA, Calif. – When California Chrome walked off the track after a second-place finish in the $10 million Dubai World Cup last March, he seemed to be on the verge of a big season. Little could anyone have known that he would not race again in 2015.
Minor injuries kept California Chrome sidelined through the spring and summer and eventually led to a 90-day break in Kentucky. He returned to trainer Art Sherman’s Southern California stable in October and quickly resumed training.
What Sherman has seen in recent weeks has left him anxious for California Chrome’s comeback Saturday in the $200,000 San Pasqual Stakes at Santa Anita. California Chrome finally will be back in action for a season that Sherman and owners Perry Martin and Taylor Made Farm hope will be as brilliant as 2014, when California Chrome was voted Horse of the Year.
“He looks so much stronger to me,” Sherman said this week. “Maybe I’m biased, but he looks five lengths better than he was.”
The Grade 2 San Pasqual Stakes at 1 1/16 miles is expected to be California Chrome’s only start at the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting. The Dubai World Cup on March 26 is the main goal, with a prep race in late February or early March also part of the plan.
The San Pasqual gives Sherman a chance to test California Chrome against seven rivals, though none as accomplished as the wildly popular 5-year-old. California Chrome has won 9 of 18 starts and earned $6,322,650 in a career highlighted by wins in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes in 2014. His legion of fans, affectionately known as “Chromies,” have high hopes for California Chrome to return a winner Saturday.
The San Pasqual is the eighth race on a nine-race program that begins at 12:30 p.m. Pacific. The $100,000 Sham Stakes for 3-year-olds at a mile is the sixth race.
Key contenders
California Chrome (Last 3 Beyers: NA-105-96)
* California Chrome will wear blinkers in the San Pasqual, which has been customary since the summer of 2013. Sherman experimented without them for a seven-furlong workout in 1:25.40 on Dec. 27 at Los Alamitos, but jockey Victor Espinoza was not pleased with the effort. Both Sherman and Espinoza were more encouraged when California Chrome worked six furlongs in 1:10.04 before the first race at Santa Anita last Saturday.
“Just the small blinkers make a difference,” Espinoza said last weekend. “Without them, he’s not as focused. He’s back to where he was at his peak, but there is a difference between racing and a workout. The way he’s worked, I think he’s ready.”
* In a way, California Chrome needs a win. Since winning the Preakness Stakes in May 2014, California Chrome has lost 5 of 6 starts, a span that includes a third by a neck in the Breeders’ Cup Classic here in November 2014, a win in the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby on turf at Del Mar that month, and a game second to Shared Belief in the $590,000 San Antonio Stakes here last February. The San Antonio is California Chrome’s most recent start in the U.S.
* For much of his career, California Chrome has raced near the front, and Sherman expects an eager runner Saturday. His only concern is the possibility of a wet track from recent rain.
“He’ll show speed,” Sherman said. “I really think he’ll run awfully good. I don’t know what to expect on an off track, but he’s run on any surface. I feel good about it. It makes us excited.”
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 4 California Chrome. Trainer Art Sherman is 25-2-3-2 with a $0.70 ROI over the past five years with all horses returning from a layoff of 180 days or more. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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Hoppertunity (Last 3 Beyers: 103-104-102)
* Hoppertunity is winless in eight starts since a victory in the San Pasqual last January, but he has run competitively on several occasions. Trained by Bob Baffert, Hoppertunity was third behind Shared Belief and California Chrome in the San Antonio Stakes and beaten a nose by Hard Aces in the Gold Cup at Santa Anita last June.
* More recently, Hoppertunity was beaten three-quarters of a length in both the Grade 2 Fayette Stakes at Keeneland on Oct. 30 and the Grade 1 Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs on Nov. 27. A closer, Hoppertunity could be a threat in the stretch if California Chrome is not in top form.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 5 Hoppertunity. Trainer Bob Baffert is 27-10-6-4 with a $2.44 ROI over the past two years in dirt route graded stakes at Santa Anita with Martin Garcia aboard. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
Hard Aces (Last 3 Beyers: 104-92-93)
* Hard Aces is winless in three Grade 1 races since scoring a mild upset in the Gold Cup at Santa Anita last June. He was sixth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, finishing 12 1/2 lengths behind American Pharoah, at Keeneland on Oct. 31.
* Hard Aces won in the mud at Fair Grounds in 2014, when trained by Larry Jones. Similar conditions Saturday are not a concern, trainer John Sadler said.
“I’d like to try this horse on a wet track,” he said. “I think he might like it.”
* Sadler hoped to give Hard Aces a relatively easy race in the San Pasqual to build toward a start in the $1 million Santa Anita Handicap on March 12. That went out the door with the presence of California Chrome.
“This won’t be easier,” Sadler said.