By Louisville Courier Journal
Hey, it worked for American Pharoah.
The 2014 Kentucky Derby winner, California Chrome, has also added some special footwear on his front feet, co-owner Steve Coburn and his wife, Carolyn, tweeted Sunday.
California Chrome missed his last start, in Royal Ascot’s Group I Prince of Wales’s Stakes, because of an abscess in his right-front foot. Applying a pair of bar shoes is an old-school method of keeping weight off the colt’s heels as he readies for his next test, the Aug. 15 Arlington Million back in the United States.
American Pharoah wore a different piece of equipment during his run to the Triple Crown, with a protective plate covering his left-front sole — a sort of shock absorber. He both trained and raced with the plate, which trainer Bob Baffert downplayed in terms of its importance.
It’s unknown how long Art Sherman will keep bar shoes on California Chrome, who for now remains in England, still with a month and a half to train up to his next race.