Owner Danny Keene will be the first to say that Texas Chrome has been a blessing. Purchased as a $10,000 yearling, the horse has gone on to earn $842,462. Things could get even sweeter Nov. 4 at Santa Anita. Texas Chrome has been pre-entered in the Grade 1, $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, earning a shot at the race after having a September to remember. Texas Chrome fought for a half-length win over Dalmore in the Grade 3, $400,000 Super Derby at Louisiana Downs on Sept. 10. He then emerged from tight quarters along the rail to win the Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby by a half-length Sept. 24 at Remington Park. “I was real worried when they were coming down the stretch and he was squeezed in there,” Keene said of the Oklahoma Derby. “I can’t believe he got through there to start with, but he’s not a quitter. That horse has got heart.” Keene was taken with Texas Chrome when he first saw the horse at an October yearling auction at Lone Star Park. He landed the Texas-bred son of Grasshopper with a bid of $10,000, coming away with what has turned out to be one of the better recent investments in racing. “When I look at a horse, I look at conformation,” Keene said. “I like a lot of depth in the girth, just certain things that fit my eye. You don’t know – one out of 100,000 is probably a good one. You get lucky once in a while, and that’s what happened. I got lucky. “I was told a long time ago, you don’t find a good racehorse. A good racehorse finds you. And I’m a firm believer in that. He looked me in the eye, and I looked him in the eye … there’s something special about his eyes.” Keene, a 71-year-old Texas resident, got into Thoroughbred racing about six years ago and has won multiple owner titles at Lone Star Park and Sam Houston. But he’s not new to the game. “I used to train and run Quarter Horses myself many years ago,” he said. “It’s hard to believe, but I used to gallop them, so I’m not a greenhorn to horses. I know a little about horses. My wife and I said if we ever had the money, we’d get back in the business, but if we did, it would be Thoroughbreds.” Keene and his wife, Carolyn, have about 40 horses in training and keep a band of broodmares. J.R. Caldwell has Texas Chrome in training at Remington Park, while Keene also has runners stabled at a training center he owns in Hot Springs, Ark. The couple also maintains a farm in Greenville, Texas. Texas Chrome will be the first Breeders’ Cup starter for Keene, who has improved the quality of his stable over the past several years. Keene and Caldwell picked up five yearlings at the September sale at Keeneland, and those runners, along with four Keene homebreds, are now receiving their early training at the Benchmark facility near Dallas. As for Texas Chrome, he breezed five-eighths in 1:02.52 on Monday at Remington, his final local work before taking off for Santa Anita. Line Judge likely for Jackpot Line Judge, who won the $200,000 Jean Lafitte on Saturday night at Delta Downs, will now target the Grade 3, $1 million Delta Downs Jackpot on Nov. 19, trainer Joe Sharp said Monday. Line Judge won his third straight race and his first around two turns in the Jean Lafitte. He had won back-to-back races at Canterbury Park prior to the Jean Lafitte. Sharp said Line Judge will now remain in Louisiana and will ship from Fair Grounds back to Vinton, La., for the Jackpot. Line Judge earned a 77 Beyer Speed Figure for his Jean Lafitte win. He was prominent throughout for a 3 3/4-length victory over Tip Tap Tapizar. “He’s a horse that had shown us signs he would stretch out, but he hadn’t been beyond 5 1/2 [furlongs],” Sharp said. “Going into the first turn, I could tell he was very relaxed, which was what we were looking for. He basically looked very well within himself the entire race.” The Jean Lafitte was Line Judge’s first start since Aug. 27, when he won an overnight stakes at Canterbury. Sharp said the horse had run three races close together in Minnesota, so the decision was made to give him a nice amount of time between starts heading into the Jean Lafitte. C.J. McMahon has the mount in the Jackpot for owners Barry and Joni Butzow. Tip Tap Tapizar, who rallied for second in the Jean Lafitte off a win in the one-mile Sapling at Monmouth Park, is possible for the Jackpot, said trainer Steve Asmussen.