California Chrome works with blinkers

CYPRESS, Calif.- California Chrome was fitted with blinkers for a five-furlong workout at Los Alamitos on Saturday, trainer Art Sherman going to the headgear in an effort to get a more aggressive workout on the popular 3-year-old.

The plan worked – a little too well.

California Chrome moved so easily during the first half-mile of the workout that jockey Victor Espinoza eased down on the colt in the final furlong, and finished in 1:00.60. The workout moved California Chrome closer to his 4-year-old debut in the $500,000 San Antonio Stakes over 1 1/8 miles at Santa Anita on Feb. 7.

“He never let him go,” Sherman said shortly after California Chrome completed the workout. “The way he’s doing it is unbelievable.”

Alan Sherman, Art Sherman’s son, timed California Chrome in 1:00, and galloping out six furlongs in 1:13.80.

Saturday’s workout was the third major exercise for California Chrome since the Hollywood Derby. Sherman said the workouts will intensify through January.

“It’s starting to get more serious,” he said. “I want him dead fit for that race. I’ll probably crank on him a little bit knowing that his first race will be over a mile and an eighth.”

In recent weeks, Sherman said he has noted mental and physical changes with California Chrome, who races for breeders Steve Coburn and Perry Martin.

“He’s a different horse,” Sherman said. “I think his 4-year-old year could be his best year, watching him train and develop. He has pretty good weight and his attitude is a little tougher. Now, he’s snapping and biting. He won’t savage you, but he’s a biter.”

California Chrome won his fourth Grade 1 of 2014 in the Hollywood Derby on turf at Del Mar on Nov. 30. Earlier this year, he won three consecutive Grade 1 races in the Santa Anita Derby, Kentucky Derby, and Preakness Stakes. California Chrome was third in the Breeders’ Cup Classic to Bayern at Santa Anita on Nov. 1.

Bayern and California Chrome are two of the leading contenders for the Horse of the Year voting. Bayern won the Pennsylvania Derby at Parx Racing in September, a race in which California Chrome finished sixth.

The San Antonio Stakes could draw an outstanding field, including Bayern and Shared Belief, the champion 2-year-old male of 2013. Friday at Santa Anita, Shared Belief won the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes for 3-year-olds over seven furlongs. The $301,000 Malibu Stakes was Shared Belief’s first start since a fourth in the BC Classic, where he was bumped severely by Bayern shortly after the start.

Saturday at Santa Anita, Bayern worked a half-mile in 47.80 seconds, a workout trainer Bob Baffert described as “very easy.”

Baffert said on Saturday that he has not chosen a race for Bayern’s 2015 debut, although the San Antonio is an option.

“I’m bringing him back easy,” Baffert said. “I’ve got to figure it out.”