Dear
Readers,
I’ve not hesitated over the course of 2014,
to share my enthusiasm for California Chome. Feelings which ranged from amazement,
to complete respect, and over the year these feelings have matured.
What a major coup for Parx Racing in
Bensalem, to get California Chrome’s connections to commit to the Grade II Pennsylvania
Derby. Their grandstand will be heaving by the time the horse’s line up in the starting
gate to contest the one-mile and one-eighth distance. The eventual winner will
take home the lion’s share of the $1,000,000 dollar purse.
So what do I think? I think this is a talented
field of horses. Tons of speed and
bucket loads of class abound. But then that describes Chrome, doesn’t it?
Of course, opinions exist in large numbers,
and I write this blog to express my own. So here goes. First I can’t fault Art
Sherman and his team, for anything they have done with this horse. Obviously
they are privy to things the rest of the world is not. Turning the horse out at
a Harris Farm where the staff was familiar with the horse was brilliant. Chrome
didn’t just stand in a stall and then jog around the training track, he was let down
to the point where they could turn him out in a pasture, and they just let him be
a horse.
Working Chrome between races at Los Alamitos
was the next brilliant move. Talk about a good work, and with the crowd
cheering his every stride? Better than a race, at least by my way of thinking.
Chrome jogged off the track looking and feeling like a winner.
Now he’s been shipped to Pennsylvania to
hook, arguably, some of the best three-year-olds on the east coast. Not a good
idea? Well I say, why not? When you get to the level this horse is at, there are
no easy races. Do you really think anybody would have filled a conditioned
allowance race written to accommodate California Chrome? Not
likely.
So here’s the field:
1.
California
Chrome – Everything that could be said has been said about the
horse. I don’t think Sherman and crew have any other outcome in mind, other
than a first place finish. They didn’t take him all the way there, just to give
him a race. And yet, having said that, I think if he comes up short, they won’t
be disappointed if he runs competitively.
2.
Candy
Boy
– What a nice colt, and he sure has been getting lined up against the best. In
the Mountaineer he was pretty flat footed when he came out of the gate. Hustled
up into contention, he then stayed on the outside for the entire race. This
overland route kept Candy Boy out of trouble, as compared to the eventual
winner who got in all kinds of trouble.
3.
Protonico –
Lightly raced, looked good overcoming problems in the Smarty Jones to win. He
would be a surprise. I love his pedigree.
4.
Bayern – My
goodness that last race was a clunker. I know the fractions were fast, but to
me this horse never looked comfortable. They didn’t chart him as having been
eased, but he sure looked like he was right on the ragged edge of it. I’m
surprised to see him in here. Maybe he hated Saratoga’s surface.
5.
Noble
Moon
– Might be a bit overmatched in here. He’s a nice horse, no doubt, but I think
at best, he might get up in time for a piece of it.
6.
Classic
Giancroll – Another nice horse who also looks a bit overmatched. Would be a surprise for me if he were to win it.
7.
Tapiture
–
This horse got mugged twice in his last race. Once in the first turn, and then
a total smack down in the lane, and still he got up in time to win.
8.
C J’s
Awesome – And he may very well be awesome, but I don’t see him
upsetting this field. He does have a little speed.
Looking critically at the field, there is
no reason California Chrome can’t win this race. If he doesn’t win, I sure hope
he’s close, because other than Tapiture, Candy Boy and Bayern, the remainder of
the field shouldn’t outrun him, even in a comeback race after a layup.
Art has to be nervous, despite the way the
form handicaps. As a trainer you do what you can and then the race is run.
Sometimes you drive home exhausted and downcast. Other times it’s a good thing
there’s a roof on the car, otherwise you’d float right on out.
I’m glad Shared Belief didn’t come back for
this race. If California Chrome wins the Pennsylvania Derby and Shared Belief
wins his next race at Santa Anita, the Breeder’s Cup Classic could be
monumental.
I’ll be clinging to the television tomorrow,
and I hope to be dazzled.
Take care,
Shelley Riley – Author of Casual Lies – A Triple Crown
Adventure
www.shelleyriley.com
