California Chrome jogging in England, eyes Arlington Million

California Chrome continues to show improvement from a foot injury that prevented him from starting in the Group 1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot in England on June 17, trainer Art Sherman said on Wednesday.

California Chrome has been jogged on recent mornings at trainer Rae Guest’s stable in Newmarket, England, where the 2014 Horse of the Year has been based since early April. Sherman said California Chrome’s right front foot was thought to have an abscess, but it is now believed that the colt is suffering from a severe bruise.

“It might not be an abscess,” Sherman said. “It might be a bad bruise that is working its way out. It will take time to get it well again. We put a bar shoe on him, and that helped a whole lot. They’re jogging him. He just started back.”

On June 15, California Chrome was found to be suffering from the foot injury, which kept him from starting in the prestigious Prince of Wales’s Stakes. Sherman had traveled from California to England for the race.

Sherman said on Wednesday that California Chrome will be flown to Chicago on July 6 or 7 to begin preparation for the Arlington Million at Arlington Park on Aug. 15. Owned by Perry Martin and Steve Coburn, California Chrome has not raced since finishing second in the $10 million Dubai World Cup at Meydan Racecourse in the United Arab Emirates on March 28.

California Chrome has not started in the United States since finishing second to Shared Belief in the $590,000 San Antonio Stakes at Santa Anita on Feb. 7.