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 Bloodhorse.com Assistant trainer Alan Sherman declared “all systems go” for Triple Crown contender California Chrome after watching the 3-year-old colt gallop two miles at Belmont Park shortly after 6 a.m. (EDT) May 26. Alan Sherman, who assists his 77-year-old father Art, is overseeing the training of California Chrome as the California-bred son of Lucky Pulpit   prepares for a possible date with history in the June 7, $1.5 million Belmont Stakes (gr. I). A Belmont victory, coupled with previous triumphs in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) and Preakness Stakes (gr. I) would make Chrome the 12th horse to sweep the three races and the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978. “The track was a little deeper today but he got over it fine,” Sherman said. “All systems go.” Since Affirmed’s win, 11 horses have tried unsuccessfully to complete the sweep; in 2012, I’ll Have Another   won the Derby and Preakness but was scratched from the Belmont the week of the race due to an... ...

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... ...

By DRF.com BALTIMORE, Md. (May 13, 2014) – California Chrome had been standing on the Pimlico loam for only a minute or two Tuesday morning when he let out an inordinately long and loud whinny, as if to say, “What is this new place?” Some 30 minutes later, after the colt had made an uneventful first-ever circuit of the track, assistant trainer Alan Sherman grinned about it. “That’s him,” said Sherman. With regular exercise rider Willie Delgado aboard, California Chrome stood in place for several minutes before breaking into a slow, clockwise jog, touring the one-mile Pimlico oval once before being led off by Sherman at the same quarter-pole gap. He then walked back to the stakes barn, with the entire light-training routine taking no more than 20 minutes. ::DRF Live: Reports from training hours at Pimlico 8-9 a.m. ET this week “I just wanted him to get familiar with the track,” said Sherman, who has been deputizing for his father, trainer Art Sherman, since shortly after California Chrome won the... ...

By DRF.com BALTIMORE, Md. (May 12, 2014)  – Kentucky Derby winner California Chrome, escorted by four Baltimore city police officers on motorcycles, arrived at Pimlico Racecourse a little before 3:15 p.m. Monday after shipping from Churchill Downs. The Derby winner traveled by van from Churchill – where he has been based since shipping from California on April 28 – to Lexington, where he boarded a Tex Sutton charter accompanied by groom Raul Rodriguez, exercise rider Willie Delgado, and Jordan Olsen, a longtime friend of assistant trainer Alan Sherman. Sherman flew on a separate plane that landed at Baltimore-Washington International Airport at roughly the same time as California Chrome’s, and he led the horse off the van and into his new stall at Pimlico. California Chrome, as he did arriving in Kentucky, declined to be cajoled off the van walking forward, and had to be backed out the door. “That’s just something he wants to do,” said Sherman. “He did it coming off the plane, too.” ::DRF Live: Reports from training... ...

By DRF.com CYPRESS, Calif. (May 11, 2014) — With white hooves on all four feet, Kentucky Derby winner California Chrome always has needed a little extra attention to hoof care, and his trainer, Art Sherman, said blacksmith Judd Smith came up with a unique solution. California Chrome races in glue-on shoes, but the shoes are not glued on, they are affixed with nails. The shoe, not the glue, is the reason, Sherman said. The shoes that California Chrome wears “help so he doesn’t go back on his heels,” Sherman said. ::2014 PREAKNESS STAKES: Latest news, video, and more “All horses with four white feet are prone to needing more care because of the lack of pigmentation. The hoofs can be shellier,” Sherman said this weekend at Los Alamitos, where he is overseeing his local stable before heading to Pimlico this week for the Preakness Stakes. “It takes more effort to keep them in shape. “We’re always working on his feet. Horses with white hooves, they have a tendency to have... ...

By DRF.com LOUISVILLE, Ky. (May 11, 2014) — Kentucky Derby winner California Chrome came onto the track for his daily routine early Sunday morning. Under regular exercise rider Willie Delgado, the colt spent about 20 minutes on the track, backtracking to the wire in a jog, then galloping about 1 3/4 miles. As usual, everything was accomplished rather slowly, carefully, and without incident. “I just let him take his time, do whatever he feels like,” said Delgado. “He’s a rock star. Sometimes I’ll just let him stand for 10 or 15 minutes before we do anything. I say, ‘You’re the Kentucky Derby winner. You can do what you want.’ ” ::2014 PREAKNESS STAKES: Latest news, video, and more Alan Sherman, who is deputizing here for his father, trainer Art Sherman, said he expected to have California Chrome among the first horses on the track Monday at 6 a.m. Eastern. Sherman said he wants to have everything ready for the colt to ship out of Churchill at about 10 a.m. for... ...

By DRF.com LOUISVILLE, Ky. (May 10, 2014) – Neither rain nor mud nor a slightly altered schedule could keep Kentucky Derby winner California Chrome from his appointed rounds early Saturday at Churchill Downs. Heavy overnight rain that lasted into the morning hours led assistant trainer Alan Sherman to send California Chrome out for a routine gallop shortly before 6:30 a.m. Eastern, about a half-hour earlier than usual. Under regular exercise rider Willie Delgado, the colt had no mishaps when spending about 15 minutes on a sloppy, sealed racetrack. “I didn’t want to take any chances of him having to go over a chewed-up track,” said Sherman, who is deputizing here for his father, trainer Art Sherman, before the colt leaves Monday for Baltimore and the second jewel of the Triple Crown, the 139th Preakness on May 17 at Pimlico Race Course. “He’s tolerable of any surface. He went over it just fine. He pretty much takes his racetrack with him.” Sherman said California Chrome also will gallop Sunday and Monday before... ...

By DRF.com ARCADIA, Calif. (May 9, 2014) — At its core, California Chrome’s Kentucky Derby victory is a “local boy makes good” story. The chestnut colt was foaled and raised at Harris Farms in Coalinga, Calif., which is also the home of his sire, Lucky Pulpit. California Chrome never raced outside of his home state until the Kentucky Derby, and even his name furthers his status as a living billboard for the statebred program. If anything else, California Chrome’s success has helped serve as a morale booster for the state’s breeding industry, which had been on a 51-year drought since Decidedly became the third California-bred to win the Kentucky Derby in 1962. He has also given the program its biggest equine celebrity since Horse of the Year Tiznow’s dominance in the early 2000s. “It’s just a tremendous boost for the breeding program here in the state,” said Doug Burge, executive vice president and general manager of the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association. “It really validates the significance of the whole Cal-bred... ...

By DRF.com LOUISVILLE, Ky. (May 9, 2014) — Katherine Martin, 83, had seen enough of her hospital room in Iron Mountain, Mich., on May 1. She was being treated for the flu but, feeling better, was ready to leave. With a better offer in Louisville, Ky., a few days later, she checked out of the hospital, despite pleading from nurses. “They told her, ‘Mrs. Martin, you could die,’ ” recalled her son, Perry Martin. “She said, ‘I know I could die, but not until I see my son’s horse in the Kentucky Derby. I’m ready, and I’m going.’ ” With that, Katherine Martin was picked up by another son and driven to Louisville. She was there when Perry Martin’s horse California Chrome won the Kentucky Derby on May 3. “She’s pretty tough,” Perry Martin said of his mother. Katherine Martin was back at home in Michigan by the end of the weekend and recovering well at home, according to her son. “She’s the hometown hero,” Perry Martin said. “She had... ...

By DRF.com LOUISVILLE, Ky. (May 9, 2014) – It was business as usual Friday morning for Kentucky Derby winner California Chrome, who turned in another routine gallop at Churchill Downs as his prepares for the second leg of the Triple Crown, the May 17 Preakness at Pimlico in Baltimore. As is his custom, he went slowly under exercise rider Willie Delgado in his first lap around the Churchill Downs oval before picking up his pace over a gallop of approximately 1 3/4 miles Alan Sherman, assistant to his father, trainer Art Sherman, is overseeing the colt’s training with his father attending to his horses at Los Alamitos in Southern California this week. Alan Sherman said arrangements had been worked out for California Chrome to fly on a Tex Sutton flight from Lexington to Maryland Monday afternoon. He will train Monday morning at Churchill before traveling, Sherman said. The connections of California Chrome have long wanted to leave for Baltimore on Monday, rather than on Wednesday, when a flight had long been... ...

By Bloodhorse.com Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) winner California Chrome moved into the fourth position on the Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings off his May 3 victory in the Louisville classic. A total of three U.S.-based horses landed in the top 10 as California Chrome is joined by Santa Anita Handicap (gr. I) winner Game On Dude (ranked third), and Oaklawn Handicap (gr. II) winner Will Take Charge (tied for fifth). Two-time Horse of the Year Wise Dan, who has won a pair of grade I races this year on turf, is tied for 11th. Japan-based Just a Way, who won the Dubai Duty Free Stakes (UAE-I) by more than six lengths in March at Meydan, retains his position at the top. LONGINES World’s Best Racehorse Rankings Rank      Horse    Rating   Trained 1             Just a Way           130        JPN 2             Variety Club        126        UAE 3             Game On Dude   125        USA 4             California Chrome            124        USA 5             African Story       123        UAE 5             Cirrus des Aigles 123        FR 5             Designs On... ...

By DRF.com LOUISVILLE, Ky. (May 8, 2014) – In his second day back training after winning the 140th Kentucky Derby last Saturday, California Chrome galloped 1 1/2 miles at Churchill Downs on Thursday as he prepares for the May 17 Preakness at Pimlico. His gallop under regular exercise rider Willie Delgado was routine and much like those he turned in before the Kentucky Derby. Settled for the first mile or so, he picked up his pace over the final half-mile. With Alan Sherman, assistant trainer to his father, Art Sherman, watching closely from the backstretch, Delgado said he didn’t even need words to describe how California Chrome felt beneath him. He just smiled at him, conveying all that needed to be communicated. “He came out of the race really good, a lot stronger than usual,” Delgado told reporters later. “It gives me chills thinking about it, if he keeps coming out of races like that.” Alan Sherman said his father, who is back in California tending to his stable at Los... ...

By Steve Haskin, Bloodhorse.com LOUISVILLE, Ky. (May 7, 2014) — As I mentioned in my recap, the 2014 Kentucky Derby was about dreams and fate, an improbable hero from humble parentage, memories of Derbys long ago, and a favorite owned and trained by underdogs. In short, it was about life and its quirky twists and turns that lead us to places envisioned only in dreams and guided only by fate. Thoroughbred racing was once dubbed The Sport of Kings. Well, there are no more kings and we are trying desperately to convince the world we are still a sport. There are only mere fragments left of past dynasties, as we witnessed in last year’s Derby. For the most part, the nobility that was once racing has morphed into a sport dominated by “dumb ass partners.” Working stiffs Steve Coburn and Perry Martin are the first to admit it by branding themselves as such. The California breeding industry has for years been considered by the elitists as the other side of... ...

By DRF.com LOUISVILLE, Ky. (May 7, 2014) – Four days after winning the 140th Kentucky Derby, California Chrome finally took a victory lap around Churchill Downs. With exercise rider Willie Delgado aboard Wednesday, the chestnut colt never got out of a slow jog when going once around the one-mile oval clockwise. It was his first trip back to the track where he became the first California-bred since 1962 to win the Derby and the only horse to keep alive hope of becoming the first Triple Crown winner in 36 years. “He was on the bit and happy,” said Alan Sherman, who is deputizing here for his father, trainer Art Sherman, before the colt leaves for Baltimore and the second jewel of the Triple Crown, the 139th Preakness on May 17 at Pimlico Race Course. “He wanted to train. He was tired of walking.” Sherman said the daily routine would be notched up to galloping Thursday as California Chrome eases back into a slightly more vigorous regimen. His father, back home in... ...

By DRF.com LOUISVILLE, Ky. (May 6, 2014) — Much has been written about California Chrome’s pedigree over the past three months, ever since the 3-year-old son of Golden State stallion Lucky Pulpit drew raves with a 5 1/2-length victory in the California Cup Derby on Jan. 25 at Santa Anita. The scrutiny only intensified afterward, as California Chrome in succession took the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes and the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby in dominant fashion to head into the Kentucky Derby as the clear favorite. Analyses of California Chrome’s breeding focused on the modest race and stud record of his sire and on the captivating, up-from-the-bootstraps tale of his owners and breeders Perry Martin and Steve Coburn, who purchased the colt’s dam, the Not for Love mare Love the Chase, for $8,000. California Chrome’s bloodlines and backstory thus only added to his outsider allure, and the colt’s authoritative 1 3/4-length win Saturday under the twin spires in Derby 140 is a rubber stamp for one of horse racing’s... ...

From Churchill Downs LOUISVILLE, Ky. (May 4, 2014) —  The chestnut colt California Chrome carved his name in the history books Saturday afternoon at Churchill Downs, earning himself the right to sleep in until 6 o’clock Sunday morning at his Barn 20 new Kentucky home.         “He’s fine,” reported the newest oldest trainer (77) to win a Kentucky Derby, Art Sherman, to an early bird gathering of media types Sunday at the barn. “He left just a handful of grain in his tub last night, but that’s all. His appetite was good. He got a little tired, but not too bad. Victor (jockey Victor Espinoza) told me yesterday that he did get a bit tired on him at the end; that he eased  him a bit that last 70 yards. He said he didn’t ask him for too much thinking about saving something for the next one, for the Preakness.”         Espinoza began to draw clear from his 18 rivals inside the quarter pole, but mostly kept busy aboard his mount through the lane. He popped... ...

By DRF.com LOUISVILLE, Ky. – For trainer Art Sherman, winning the Kentucky Derby Saturday with California Chrome still hadn’t sunk in yet Sunday morning. “I’m still numb, to be honest,” he said Sunday morning. “I can’t describe it. The Kentucky Derby is the Kentucky Derby. I was so happy when we won the Santa Anita Derby, when you think of all the good horses that have won that race. That was my biggest thrill – until now. “It’s pretty cool. You wake up in the morning and go, ‘I just won the Kentucky Derby.’ It’s a dream come true for me.” With five straight wins, California Chrome will now head to Pimlico for the second leg of the Triple Crown, the May 17 Preakness Stakes. As of Sunday, it appeared he would face very few challengers from the Derby, plus several new faces to the Triple Crown. California Chrome is certain for the Preakness, and the only other possibilities from the Derby field were Commanding Curve (who finished second), Danza... ...

By SI.com LOUISVILLE — This is what a horse can do on the first Saturday in May: He can make three grown men dance under a setting sun on a famous racetrack, spinning little circles in the dust, tears rolling down their cheeks. He can make a 77-year-old trainer think about dear friends who passed away long ago and embrace the improbable gift of such a success so late in life. He can make an injured jockey, his body and brain still bruised from a terrible spill, climb on a same-day flight to see his little brother ride in and win the most important horse race in the world; and then he can make that little brother cry just thinking about those less fortunate than he is. He can make two rookie owners — one a loquacious cowboy with a lucky 10-year-old hat and the other a reserved businessman who brought his 83-year-old mother to Churchill Downs for the race (and supported her fragile body from a spot on the... ...

By Associated Press LOUISVILLE, Ky. (May 3, 2014) — Success at the Kentucky Derby may not change Art Sherman. It just took his entire career at the racetrack to find it. The 77-year-old became the Kentucky Derby’s oldest winning trainer on Saturday thanks to his California-bred star pupil, California Chrome, who ran close with the leaders before taking charge after a mile and cruising to a nearly two-length victory. Sherman was an exercise rider 59 years ago for Swaps, who won the 1955 Derby. He visited the horse’s grave this week, praying for a chance to experience winning the marquee race himself. “I’m so thankful that I’m here,” Sherman said after the race. “I don’t think I change much anymore. I have a lot of friends on the racetrack, been around a long time.” Sherman then elicited the biggest laughter in the postrace news conference, adding, “I’m just the same old Art Sherman, you know — except, I won the Kentucky Derby.” Indeed, the old-school Sherman promised that he’d be... ...

By DRF.com LOUISVILLE, Ky. (May 3, 2014) — A Kentucky Derby victory is awfully hard to top as a birthday present. But Steve Coburn, who turned 61 on Saturday, has his sights set even higher with California Chrome, the 3-year-old colt he co-bred and co-owns with Perry Martin. “I believe this horse will win the Triple Crown,” Coburn said. “It’s an incredible, incredible journey that we’ve been on,” Coburn said. “To see all this happen for my partner Perry Martin and our wives and families, to see this dream come true that we have put so much blood, sweat, and tears into, our savings, our retirements into this horse, and see this horse win the Kentucky Derby – I have no words. I really have no words.” Steve and Carolyn Coburn, who now live in Topaz Lake, Nev., and Perry and Denis Martin, who live in Yuba City, Calif., first met when Steve and Perry owned small shares in several horses through the California-based Blinkers On Racing syndicate. One of... ...

By Bloodhorse.com LOUISVILLE, Ky. (May 3, 2014) — Derby dreams do come true. Favored California Chrome pulled clear in the stretch to win the May 3 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) by 1 3/4 lengths over closer Commanding Curve. Danza finished third (VIDEO). The winner, ridden by Victor Espinoza, got the 1 1/4 miles in 2:03.66. Espinoza was winning his second Derby. He guided War Emblem to Derby glory in 2002. “He’s an amazing horse,” Espinoza. “He started very well. I wanted to let him go the front, but I backed off. I went to the outside early and it wasn’t a problem.” California Chrome, bred and owned by Steve Coburn and Perry Martin, is a Cal-bred son of Lucky Pulpit  –Love the Chase, by Not For Love  . He is trained by 77-year-old Art Sherman, who becomes the oldest trainer to win the Derby. Charlie Whittingham won the second of his two Derbys at age 76 with Sunday Silence in 1989. “He gave me the biggest thrill I’ve... ...

By Bloodhorse.com CYPRESS, Calif. (Apr. 26, 2014) — With many fans making their first-ever visit to Los Alamitos just to see him, California Chrome put in his final work April 26 before he heads to Louisville for the May 3 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I). Jockey Victor Espinoza took California Chrome a half-mile in :48 1/5, and the California-bred colt galloped out five-eighths in 1:01. “It was perfect,” said trainer Art Sherman, who watched from the West end of the grandstand. “He does everything so easy. It always looks effortless.” Before the work, fans approached Sherman for autographs and photos. “People love him—he’s like a rock star and I’m his manager,” said the trainer, who sported a purple California Chrome hat. He later added a California Chrome button courtesy of the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association, which made buttons available to people who “liked” the CTBA’s Facebook page. Espinoza brought California Chrome out around 8 a.m. PDT, accompanied by a pony. They took an easy gallop past the... ...

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (Apr. 24, 2014) — Joy Boy is the lone California-bred entered in Saturday’s $75,000 Bosselman Gus Fonner Stakes at Fonner Park.   Joy Boy is by Tribal Rule, out of the Half Term mare Joyously, was bred by Dr. and Mrs. William Gray, is owned by TK Stables and trained by Kellyn Gorder.   He has seven wins in 25 starts, earnings of $295,943 and is coming off a Mar. 15 allowance win. He was third in this race last year. ...

By Bloodhorse.com CYPRESS, Calif. (Apr. 19, 2014) — Santa Anita Derby (gr. I) winner California Chrome, early favorite for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) took another step forward when he cruised four furlongs at his Los Alamitos headquarters the morning of April 19 in :47 4/5. Regular rider Victor Espinoza was aboard for drill, the first for the California-bred son of Lucky Pulpit   since romping in the April 5 Santa Anita Derby by 5 1/4 lengths. The drill was the eighth swiftest of 29 at the distance at Los Alamitos and came shortly after the renovation break. “Victor said he went great,” trainer Art Sherman said after the 8 a.m. drill. Following a traffic incident during a recent gallop caused by other horses on the oval, Los Alamitos officials made sure California Chrome had the track to himself Saturday. “The track was immaculate,” Sherman said. “He’ll have his final workout next Saturday (April 26) and ship early Monday morning (April 28) for Kentucky. There were some... ...

From UTSanDiego.com LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. (Apr. 18, 2014) — Art Sherman was a teenager hanging around his father’s barber shop at Silver Lake in the center of Los Angeles one day when a few of his father’s customers offered some career advice. “They were horseplayers, and they told my father I was just the right size to be a jockey,” said Sherman, who was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., but moved with his family to California as a youngster. Sherman took the advice and soon he was at legendary owner-breeder Rex Ellsworth’s ranch learning how to ride horses, seeing such movie stars as Rita Hayworth, sans make-up and pretenses. When Ellsworth went to the 1955 Kentucky Derby with the great Swaps, Sherman accompanied him as an exercise rider. Occasionally, he rode Swaps and shortly after Swaps won the Derby, Sherman became a full-time jockey. He rode for 23 years before moving to the backstretch as a trainer. And now, after training for all these years, Sherman, 77 and now living with his... ...

By Jay Hovdey, DRF.com DEL MAR, Calif. (Apr. 10, 2014) — Del Mar president Joe Harper gazed westward at the expanse of his freshly laid turf course. In the distance, the familiar landmarks of Dog Beach, the Brigantine, and the AmTrak trestle were comforting sights, but beneath his feet was spread the new Bermuda grass, transferred only the week before from its growing fields in the desert. Harper looked down. “Grow,” he said. It will, although how fast depends upon how warm it gets in coastal San Diego County over the next three months and how the new turf responds to the various tricks of the growing trade employed by turf course superintendent Leif Dickinson. Dickinson knows he can’t fool Mother Nature, but he can negotiate a working arrangement. To that end he is using plastic turf “blankets” to cover areas of the course and retain warmth, along with environmentally friendly supplements to enhance growth rate. “It’s everything,” Dickinson said. “It’s water, it’s fertility, it’s nutrition, it’s adding the biology... ...

From SportsNetwork.com PHILADELPHIA, PA (Apr. 10, 2014) – Regardless of what happens in Saturday’s Arkansas Derby and Blue Grass Stakes, California Chrome will be the Kentucky Derby favorite after his scintillating performance in the Santa Anita Derby.California Chrome won for the fourth consecutive time with a 5 1/4-length score over Hoppertunity last Saturday at Santa Anita. It is surprising that the margin of victory was the smallest of the four, but it could have been a lot more if jockey Victor Espinoza pressured the son of Lucky Pulpit to run faster inside the final furlong. Still, the colt ran that eighth of a mile in 12 2/5 seconds, which is the fastest of all the Kentucky Derby contenders to date. The chestnut colt is by far and away the class of the 2014 3-year-old crop, so much so that the rest of the Kentucky Derby field (outside Bayern if he qualifies) will be running for second place. History is also behind the homebred. His trainer, Art Sherman, was the exercise... ...

By Jay Hovdey, DRF.com Greg Gilchrist won’t be taking any credit for any part of the California Chrome fairy tale. The colt, now perched at the threshold of Kentucky Derby favoritism, has cleanly divorced himself from all traditional moorings to be what anthropologists might call sui generis, which is racetrack Latin for “what a freak.” And yet if Gilchrist, acting on behalf of Scott Sherwood’s Blinkers On Racing Stable partnership, had not gone to $30,000 to buy a filly by Not for Love at the second session of the Midlantic sale of 2-year-olds in training in May of 2008  . . . She would not have ended up in Northern California. She would not have won an $8,000 maiden claiming race for Blinkers On. She would not have been sold to Perry Martin and Steve Coburn, who met through Blinkers On. She would not have been bred to the $2,500 California stallion Lucky Pulpit. And she never would have dropped that white-trimmed chestnut who ended up in the care of... ...