By Bloodhorse.com Dual classic winner California Chrome is the fifth-ranked horse in the latest “World’s Best Racehorse Rankings” published June 12 by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities. A 3-year-old colt whose Triple Crown bid ended in the June 7 Belmont Stakes (gr. I), California Chrome was rated at 124 in the rankings, compiled by a committee for the period covering Jan. 1-June 8. Continuing to top the rankings with a 130 rating is Japanese-based Just A Way, winner of the Yasuda Kinen (Jpn-I) at Tokyo Racecourse June 8. Rated at 126 and second in the rankings is Variety Club, the South African-based winner of the Godolphin Mile (UAE-II) on the Dubai World Cup card in March. Santa Anita Handicap (gr. I) winner Game On Dude, most recently second in the Charles Town Classic Stakes (gr. II), is tied with Kingman, an impressive five-length winner of the Tattersalls Irish One Thousand Guineas (Ire-I), for third overall. Game On Dude is the highest rated U.S.-based horse at 125. Rated along with... ...

By Bloodhorse.com CYPRESS, Calif. (June 11, 2014) — No news is good news for California Chrome, who is healing up at trainer Art Sherman’s Los Alamitos Race Course barn following a courageous Triple Crown bid that ended with a defeat June 7 in the Belmont Stakes (gr. I). Since arriving back at his Southern California racing base on the night of June 8, California Chrome has been taking it easy while receiving treatment for a grabbed quarter to his right front foot, which Sherman said is improving. He sustained the injury shortly after the start of the 1 1/2-mile Belmont when he bumped with Matterhorn, the horse to his outside in the starting gate. “We’ll doctor the foot for the next 10 days or so, then we’ll send him out for six weeks,” Sherman said June 11. California Chrome will be sent to John Harris’ horse farm in Central California, where the colt was foaled, the trainer said. The stout chestnut is to be turned out at Harris’ River Ranch... ...

By DRF.com ELMONT, N.Y. (June 8, 2014) – California Chrome emerged from Saturday’s Belmont Stakes with a minor injury to his right front hoof and will be given a lengthy rest before a scheduled return to racing this fall, trainer Art Sherman said Sunday morning at Belmont Park. “He’s good, other than having a good chunk of his quarter cut,” Sherman said. “We’ll get that healed up at the barn for two to three weeks, then stop on him for six or seven weeks, give him some pasture time. He needs a rest.” That itinerary would take California Chrome out of consideration for any major races this summer such as the Travers Stakes at Saratoga or the Pacific Classic at Del Mar. Sherman said his late-season goal with California Chrome is the Nov. 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita. “We’ll keep him in California, get him ready for the Breeders’ Cup,” Sherman said. “It’s where he runs his best races. It’s home for us.” California Chrome flew back to California... ...

By DRF.com ELMONT, N.Y. (June 7, 2014) — Victor Espinoza knew early on this wasn’t going to be California Chrome’s day. Espinoza said that California Chrome didn’t show the same energy early on in Saturday’s Belmont Stakes that he had shown in winning the Kentucky Derby and Preakness and he trudged home in a dead-heat for fourth with Wicked Strong, two lengths behind Tonalist in the 146th Belmont Stakes. Espinoza didn’t have a concrete reason why California Chrome was flat on Saturday, but the colt was seen to have blood coming from his right front foot, known as a grabbed quarter, as he walked back through the tunnel after the race. Espinoza believes it may have occurred coming out of the starting gate. “I think he might have stepped on himself out of the gate,” Espinoza said. “I noticed when I jumped off him he was bleeding a little bit in the right front. Maybe that affected him.” ::2014 BELMONT STAKES: Recap, video, chart, and more Watching the head-on replay,... ...

By DRF.com ELMONT, N.Y. (June 7, 2014) — It’s about 5:30 a.m. the morning of the Belmont Stakes, and dual classic winner California Chrome is sauntering down the horsepath under the trees, ears pricked, seemingly unperturbed by the handful of press and well-wishers here to get one final look the morning of the most significant test of his young life. Exercise rider Willie Delgado pats the colt on the neck, then throws a thumbs-up to the rider of a passing horse who hollers a good luck wish to the horse looking to end 36 years of crushed hopes if he can sweep the Triple Crown later today. California Chrome steps onto the gap near the 10-furlong pole of the massive Belmont Park oval, turning the wrong way to jog a lap, just stretching his legs before the 1 1/2-mile Test of the Champion at about 6:52 this evening. He passes the point where the starting gate will be positioned today, where he’ll load in post 2 and be asked to... ...

By Bloodhorse.com ELMONT, N.Y. (June 3, 2014) — Triple Crown hopeful California Chrome went for a slow and easy gallop over the main track at Belmont Park June 3, with 77-year-old trainer Art Sherman on hand to watch after arriving from California the previous day. His stable star is aiming to become the 12th Triple Crown champion with a victory in the June 7 million Belmont Stakes (gr. I). “I haven’t been back here for a lot of years, and I rode here years ago,” said Sherman, who won more than 2,000 races as a jockey from 1957-78. “It’s changed quite a bit. I didn’t realize it was this big. After you get away from it, it’s a huge racetrack. It’s beautiful. It’s good to be back.” After schooling in the paddock, California Chrome got a hug around the neck from regular exercise rider Willie Delgado before heading to the 1 12-mile track, where he jogged a half-mile before turning around for his 2 3/8-mile gallop. “I thought he looked... ...

By ESPN.com The owners of California Chrome signed their first major sponsorship deal for the horse ahead of his attempt to be the first Triple Crown winner in 36 years. Shoe brand Skechers will be featured on everything from the apparel of the horse’s handlers to the horse’s blanket, or fly sheet, to the barn leading up to the Belmont Stakes on June 7. The deal also requires team members to wear Skechers branding in the winner’s circle should the horse win and allows Skechers to use California Chrome in marketing materials for a month after the race. Terms were not disclosed, but a source with knowledge of the deal said it’s the largest deal in horse racing since UPS paid IAEH Stables to advertise on Triple Crown hopeful Big Brown in 2008. “We’re a marketing company that just happens to be in the footwear business,” said Robert Greenberg, the chief executive for Skechers, which headquartered in California. “We’re spending a couple bucks to the roll the dice and if... ...

By Bloodhorse.com Triple Crown hopeful California Chrome looked sharp in his final workout May 31 in preparation for the upcoming Belmont Stakes (gr. I), breezing a half-mile under regular rider Victor Espinoza in a quick :47.69 at Belmont Park. “It was great,” Espinoza said. “I started not too fast…and I picked it up a little bit at the end. When we crossed the wire, I kind of dropped the reins a little bit and he did what he always does: his job.” Steve Coburn and Perry Martin’s homebred son of Lucky Pulpit   is seeking to become the 12th horse in history to sweep the Kentucky Derby (gr. I), Preakness Stakes (gr. I) and Belmont and the first Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978. He impressed on-lookers with his presence over a track playing fast after being sealed overnight because of light rain in the New York area. “The horse worked great,” assistant trainer Alan Sherman said. “(The track) seems to be fast today. A little moisture last night, I think, tightened... ...

By San Jose Mercury News COALINGA — Here at Harris Farms, just a whiff away from the cattle feed lots along Interstate 5, an all-female foaling crew helped deliver a precocious chestnut colt named California Chrome, smothering him with hugs and kisses. It was here that exercise rider Chendo Michel cinched the future champion’s first saddle, groomer Chuy Horta iced his tender white ankles, and co-owners Steve Coburn and Perry Martin first won his affections with a bag of Mrs. Pastures cookies.   This is the birthplace of California Chrome, who on Saturday will attempt to become the first horse in 36 years to win racing’s coveted Triple Crown — and the first ever from California.   The white rail fences and mulberry trees, foaling pens and training barns of his first two years are more than 2,000 miles away from where the 3-year-old colt won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness last month and even farther from the Belmont Stakes. It’s where his most-devoted followers will crowd around a television... ...

By Bloodhorse.com ARCADIA, Calif. (May 30, 2014) — In time for his planned May 31 breeze, Triple Crown hopeful California Chrome got a visit from farrier Judd Fisher and a new set of shoes at Belmont Park. Steve Coburn and Perry Martin’s winner of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) and the Preakness Stakes (gr. I) had the routine footwork done May 30 around 1 p.m. EDT under the watchful eye of assistant trainer Alan Sherman, who said the completed job looks “outstanding.” Fisher, who flew in specifically to shoe California Chrome before his June 7 engagement in the Belmont Stakes (gr. I), adapted a glue-on shoe produced by Thoro’Bred Racing Plate Company. Instead of attaching the shoe with adhesive, he now nails them into place. “It was made to be glued on with an adhesive, but I didn’t use the adhesive, I just nailed it on,” Fisher said. “I just wanted to get him up off his sole a little bit more than he was. It... ...

By Bloodhorse.com ARCADIA, Calif. (May 30, 2014) — California breeders and the state’s entire racing industry could not find a better horse to carry their brand. Or a better name. On the verge of making Triple Crown history, California Chrome has been a tremendous morale booster for a state breeding and racing program left reeling by its downward spiral for several years. “A horse like California Chrome really increases our visibility,” said Doug Burge, president of the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association. “Even his name is an advertisement for our breeding program. I’m so glad they selected that name for him. You should have seen some of the other names on the list.” Such as SeaBisquick, which was one of the other possible names on the owners’ short list. Cute, but not quite the same ring. The charismatic chestnut carries the state’s pride as the first California-bred to win the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands and Preakness (both gr. I). Excitement over the potential of such an unlikely Triple Crown... ...

By Bloodhorse.com Triple Crown hopeful California Chrome on May 28 picked back up where he left off the previous day, showing the same eagerness he displayed a day earlier when galloping his customary two-mile circuit on an overcast morning at Belmont Park. “Yesterday he pulled, and today he pulled farther,” said California Chrome’s exercise rider Willie Delgado. “And then he pulled up and he wasn’t even blowing out a match. Fitness wise, he’s fit. Come the day of the race, like I always said, it’s all up to him and God. I can’t say enough. He’s really, really improving. Like I’ve always said, after each race he got better. He’s out on weight, he’s gotten stronger.” The 3-year-old Lucky Pulpit   colt is trying to become the first Triple Crown winner in 36 years, after sweeping the first two legs in sensational fashion. “He went really strong today; he was feeling good,” said assistant trainer Alan Sherman, son of trainer Art Sherman. The Belmont Stakes field got a little deeper in... ...

By DRF.com ELMONT, N.Y. (May 24, 2014) – Being based mostly in Southern California, California Chrome had rarely, if ever, seen a wet track. During his Triple Crown run, California Chrome has seen his share of them in Kentucky, Baltimore, and especially here in New York. If you listen to his exercise rider, Willie Delgado, California Chrome didn’t appear to like it at Churchill Downs but floated over it at Pimlico. On Saturday, for the third straight morning, California Chrome galloped nearly two miles over a wet Belmont Park surface, and he seemed to handle it just fine. “Churchill wasn’t his favorite track; he never actually felt comfortable on it,” Delgado said Saturday morning, two hours after galloping California Chrome over a sealed, sloppy main track. “Even at Pimlico, when we went out that one day and it was raining, he floated over it. Here especially, he’s really taken to this tack … I don’t see him having any problem with a wet track here.” So far, California Chrome hasn’t encountered... ...

By Bloodhorse.com ELMONT, N.Y. (May 24, 2014) — Triple Crown contender California Chrome was unfazed the morning of May 23 when he encountered an opossum that decided to cross the main track at Belmont Park near the end of the colt’s daily gallop. California Chrome, who on June 7 will attempt to add the Belmont Stakes (gr. I) to his victories in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands and Preakness Stakes (both gr. I), didn’t even flinch as he passed the cat-sized marsupial near the gap. He completed his 1 3/4-mile gallop much to the satisfaction of exercise rider Willie Delgado and assistant trainer Alan Sherman. “We have coyotes on the track at Los Alamitos; it was no big deal,” said Alan Sherman, assistant to his father, Art Sherman. “The track was a little heavier than it was yesterday, but (California Chrome) seemed to handle it fine.” Sherman said California Chrome likely would school in the paddock once or twice next week, and also school in the starting gate... ...

By Bloodhorse ELMONT, N.Y. (May 21, 2014) — Triple Crown hopeful California Chrome set foot on the Belmont Park main track for the first time May 21, leisurely jogging once around the 1 1/2-mile course with exercise rider Willie Delgado aboard. California Chrome, who arrived at Belmont a day earlier, hit the track at approximately 6:45 a.m. EDT, and for the next 12 minutes jogged clockwise near the outer rail before slowing to a walk for the final sixteenth of a mile. “He actually surprised me, how good he was feeling this morning,” said Alan Sherman, assistant trainer to his father, Art Sherman. “It’s amazing how quick this horse is bouncing back off these big races he’s running. He was dragging me around the shed row, he dragged Willie around the track today. He was really feeling good.” Alan Sherman said California Chrome, who is owned by Steven Coburn and Perry Martin, will start galloping May 22, which will provide a better idea of how the colt handles the Belmont... ...

By DRF.com ELMONT, N.Y. (May 20, 2014) – Thirty-six years of waiting, 12 furlongs to go. California Chrome, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner, arrived at the final stop on his Triple Crown journey Tuesday, when a horse van carrying him and Preakness runner-up Ride On Curlin passed through the gates of Belmont Park shortly before 10:45 a.m. The van arrived following an approximately 4 1/2-hour trip from Pimlico in Baltimore. The van got stuck in a little rush-hour traffic near the George Washington Bridge before picking up a police escort from the Throgs Neck Bridge. On a glorious, sun-splashed spring morning, a gaggle of media – including representatives from most, if not all, of New York’s local television stations as well as CNN – were present when the horses arrived. California Chrome, as is his wont, was backed off the ramp before being led by Alan Sherman, the son and assistant of trainer Art Sherman, into Barn 26, where both he and Ride On Curlin will take up residence. California... ...

By Bloodhorse.com BALTIMORE, Md. (May 19, 2014) —  California Chrome, who on June 7 in the Belmont Stakes (gr. I) will try to become the 12th Triple Crown winner, walked the shedrow May 19 in the Preakness stakes barn at Pimlico Race Course first with assistant trainer Alan Sherman and then with groom Raul Rodriguez. Trainer Art Sherman stopped by to say goodbye to the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) and Preakness Stakes (gr. I) winner before heading back to California for the next two weeks. “He came out of that race great, feeling good,” Alan Sherman said. “He is usually tired for a few days, but he was feeling really good. I am starting to realize the significance of it all. It has been a great ride this horse has put us on and I never fathomed we would be one race away from winning the Triple Crown.” Thirty-three horses have been eligible to win the Triple Crown entering the Belmont but just 11 have succeeded. It... ...

By DRF.com ELMONT, N.Y. (May 19, 2014) — California Chrome can wear a nasal trip in the June 7 Belmont Stakes, just as he has done for his prior six wins in three other states, Martin Panza, a senior vice president for the New York Racing Association, said Monday morning. “I can confirm the stewards have been in touch with Art Sherman and told him he can use it,” Panza said. The use of a nasal strip became a cause celebre the past 24 hours after Sherman, who trains California Chrome, was surprised to find out Sunday morning at Pimlico he might not be able to use the nasal strip in the Belmont Stakes, in which California Chrome will go for the Triple Crown. The use of a nasal strip is not specifically banned by state law in New York, nor even a house rule at the track. It is strictly up to the discretion of the track’s stewards. Two years ago, the stewards denied I’ll Have Another the use... ...

By Frank Layden, SI.com BALTIMORE, Md. (May 18, 2014) — Many years ago a journeyman jockey watched a horse race on television. It was a Saturday afternoon in June 1973, approaching the end of the jockey’s career. By then he had crisscrossed the country so many times, and played so many hands of poker in so many jocks’ rooms at so many racetracks, that the memory of where he was that day has long disappeared into the mists of time. But the memory of what he saw has not. The jockey’s name was Art Sherman and the horse was Secretariat. On that late spring afternoon, Secretariat won the Belmont Stakes by 31 lengths in what is generally regarded as the greatest performance in horse racing history. It followed the colt’s victories in the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, and completed racing’s Triple Crown for the first time in a quarter of a century, which seemed like a long drought at the time, but now not so much. Sherman would ride a... ...

From Pimlico Publicity BALTIMORE, Md. (May 18, 2014) — Trainer Art Sherman widened his smile and nodded at the question of the morning Sunday after California Chrome added Saturday’s Preakness Stakes (G1) to his win in the Kentucky Derby: Have you been thinking about the Triple Crown? “I sure have,” Sherman said. “I’m thinking what the journey is, one more shot. I’m going to have a lot of fresh shooters waiting for me in New York.  He’s done everything we’ve asked of him. He really doesn’t have a lot to prove. He’s been a super horse for us. He’s one of those horses that you’re going to have to outrun to beat him. Maybe they won’t be able to beat him. I’m looking forward to that race.” California Chrome will try to become the 12th Triple Crown winner – the first since Affirmed swept the series in 1978 – in the Belmont Stakes on Saturday, June 7. The colt will walk the shedrow Pimlico at 7 a.m. Monday and ship... ...

By DRF.com BALTIMORE, Md. (May 18, 2014) — California Chrome emerged from his win in the Preakness Stakes tired but otherwise fine, trainer Art Sherman said Sunday morning here at Pimlico, where California Chrome will remain for a few more days before heading to Belmont Park and a bid for a Triple Crown in the Belmont Stakes on June 7. “I’m going to let him unwind,” Sherman said outside the stakes barn. “He’ll go to Belmont on Tuesday or Wednesday.” Even though California Chrome had run his second tough race in two weeks, when he was taken out of his stall around 7 a.m. Sunday by Alan Sherman, Art’s son and assistant, he aggressively walked the shedrow. “He’s dragging Alan around there,” Sherman said, marveling. Sherman said his son would remain with California Chrome daily on the East Coast. Sherman is returning Monday to California to oversee his stable at Los Alamitos. He said he would come to New York about a week before the Belmont and said California Chrome... ...

PREAKNESS STAKES QUOTES Winning Trainer Art Sherman (California Chrome): “He broke great and had a perfect trip. I was so happy when I saw where he was able to set him. Right now he’s really on his toes and doing good. He’s a remarkable horse to come back in two weeks and win. I know he’s not the only horse that ever did that, but it’s tough on a horse to come back in two weeks. I appreciate everyone involved in my team. They did a hell of a job. Both my sons are here. It’s very emotional. “To me, this race was even a little tougher for me knowing that I’m coming back in a little shorter distance than I normally ever run them and the time I give them to rest between races. I was a little concerned about that, but he’s got a big heart this horse – big. “Wow. I’ll tell you it’s quite a thrill. I know we had to run harder in this race. ... ...

BALTIMORE, Md. (May 17, 2014) — California Chrome is one jewel away from becoming the first California-bred to win racing’s Triple Crown after capturing Saturday’s $1.5 million Grade I Preakness Stakes at Pimlico. As an encore to his Kentucky Derby win two weeks ago, California Chrome broke alertly, was eased outside and into the clear by jockey Victor Espinoza going into the first turn, moved toward the leaders going into the far turn, rejected a bid by Social Inclusion, pulled away into the stretch and held off late-closing Ride On Curlin for a comfortable 1 1/4 length win in 1:54.84 for the 1 3/16 miles. “This was a crazy race,” said Espinoza. “It was a little complicated early in the race. I got more tired mentally than physically. I had to use my brains too much, but it worked out perfectly. The outside horse (Social Inclusion) moved too early and there was still a long ways to go and I got a little worried.” The 1-2 favorite, California Chrome is by Lucky... ...

By New York Times COALINGA, Calif. — There is no bluegrass here or limestone fences framing postcard-ready landscapes. A drought has drained the San Joaquin Valley of any color other than beige. There is no mistaking the smell in the air, either: It is cow manure from the feedlot of California’s largest beef producer. This is a working ranch, after all, where cows graze, almonds and pistachios grow on trees, and asparagus sprouts from the arid ground. The horses here are a sidelight, not sheikh-owned stallions that command $100,000 in the breeding shed. There is no harem of impeccably bred mares owned by the Wertheimers of the House of Chanel or any other of the sport’s boldface names. As thoroughbred racing goes, Harris Farms is more a blue-plate than blue-blood breeding operation. But this month a horse named California Chrome, who was bred on a patch of this 14,000-acre ranch, ran off with the 140th Kentucky Derby and lifted the spirits of small-time horsemen everywhere. The colt was bred by... ...

By DRF.com BALTIMORE, Md. (May 16, 2014) – California Chrome, the Kentucky Derby winner, had a routine gallop of two miles on Friday morning at Pimlico during conditions that were anything but routine, a heavy downpour that left the track sloppy and forced the afternoon’s grass races to be moved to the main track. Fortunately, the storm was predicted to be fast-moving, was expected to be gone by late Friday, and thus should result in a fast track by post time Saturday afternoon for the Preakness Stakes, the second leg of the Triple Crown. “He seemed to handle the track perfect,” said Art Sherman, who trains California Chrome. “Wind at 25 miles an hour; he’s not used to that. But he went through the mud like, ‘Hey, I can do it.’ I was curious as to how he’d do it. I think he’d be a good mud horse myself.” The California Chrome camp was relaxed and jovial, a day after they revealed that California Chrome was being treated for a very... ...

By Jay Hovdey, DRF.com BALTIMORE, Md. (May 15, 2014) — California Chrome chose neither his parents nor his destiny. As a Thoroughbred racehorse, you pretty much work with what you’re handed at birth, and what he has done is remarkable, rising from the protection of restricted stakes competition to sit atop the sport on a five-race winning streak crowned by the Kentucky Derby. As for the two-legged members of his tribe, they all had a choice. Nowhere was it written that the Shermans, the Delgados or the Rodriguez family had to sink their lives so deeply into the Thoroughbred world. But they did, and the results of their labors will be on display again Saturday when California Chrome tries to add the 139th running of the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico to his growing reputation. Alberto Delgado and his younger brother, Willie, are familiar names on the Maryland scene. For their own reasons, they ventured out West, hoping to tap into one of California’s famous reinventions. Last year, Alberto ended up... ...

By Louisville Courier-Journal It was mid-afternoon in Coalinga, Calif., as 30 people jammed into a conference room best suited for eight. The horse handlers and maintenance and office staff at Harris Farms huddled around a television, anxiously waiting to see the chestnut colt they had raised since birth take America’s grandest racing stage for the Kentucky Derby. Dan Kiser, racing and bloodstock manager for the owners of California Chrome’s sire, was at Churchill Downs to root on the son of their stallion, Lucky Pulpit. He saw California Chrome capture the 140th Kentucky Derby by 13/4 lengths. He heard the near-record crowd’s roar. He felt the rush of victory. He burst with pride. But it was later, watching a YouTube video of those Harris employees, that a different kind of emotion hit, as he realized that, while the program lists Steve Coburn and Perry Martin as owners, those working in anonymity on Harris Farms and at the track feel a propriety kinship with California Chrome that’s every bit as valid. Staff... ...