By DRF.com
DUBAI, U.A.E. (Mar. 26, 2015) — The story was told a thousand times during the 2014 Triple Crown, how a young Art Sherman had traveled by train from California to Louisville with the great Swaps in 1955.
The trip Sherman took this week offered less grist for myth. It traded a dim train car smelling of horse for a business-class sleeper seat and all the free champagne one could stomach. Thousands more miles were covered in far less time, and instead of mainly glory waiting at the end of the line, there sits a vast pot of dollars, the biggest in the world, in fact. They would have it no other way here in this posh emirate.
The lovable, affable Sherman blew into Dubai this week and found waiting his trusty assistant and son, Alan, the minor celebrity exercise rider Willie Delgado, and yes, the horse, too.
California Chrome will try Saturday night to win the $10 million Dubai World Cup.
The biggest American equine celebrity since Zenyatta is a perfect fit for the glitz and pomp of this race.
“I call him a California rock star,” said Art Sherman, who at 78 seems as far removed from celebrity culture as his journey this week was from the one he made 60 years ago. Yet California Chrome has dragged even the down-to-earth Sherman into the spotlight. “I thought when we came here, nobody will know us in Dubai, but I got off the plane, and everyone said, ‘Oh, there’s California Chrome’s trainer!’ ”
The World Cup is back on dirt for the first time since 2009, Meydan Racecourse having replaced its synthetic track with a sand-based dirt track. The return to dirt could have produced a blockbuster field, but California Chrome faces a group weakened by defections. Bayern, Toast of New York, Constitution, Tonalist, and the American expatriate Ron the Greek were taken out of consideration one by one. Nine are left to race, and on paper, only Lea poses a major threat.
California Chrome has taken his travel well, has drawn well, and absolutely should run well. If all goes well, he’ll pull the first Kentucky Derby-World Cup double since Silver Charm in 1997-98.
The World Cup is the last of nine races on a glamorous $30 million program. The card starts with an Arabian race at 8 a.m. Eastern, 4 p.m. local time, a couple hours before sunset. It’s hot but not scorching this week, and even the races run in sunlight shouldn’t pose a radical temperature test. The major action starts with race 7, the $6 million Dubai Turf, moves to the $6 million Sheema Classic, and culminates in the World Cup at 1 p.m. Eastern.
The World Cup will be televised live by Fox Sports 1 in a broadcast starting at 12:30 Eastern. Wagering is available through DRF Bets. The main track will be fast and the turf “good,” which in American terms means firm.
A good third in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, California Chrome won the Hollywood Derby on turf to end his Horse of the Year-winning 3-year-old campaign and started his 4-year-old season with a solid second behind the mighty Shared Belief in the Feb. 7 San Antonio Stakes. That was a stepping-stone to Saturday’s start, and California Chrome should be finely tuned.
Questions about his ability to stay 1 1/4 miles largely have been answered now. California Chrome’s worst showings have come when he got bottled up inside, but from post 9, that won’t be a danger. Jockey Victor Espinoza, 0-1-1 from six World Cup rides, should be in line for a lovely trip with a decent break.
“I’d like to see him have a target,” said Sherman.
But California Chrome might be faster than the other potential front-runners. Lea led when he won the 2013 Donn Handicap but came from off the pace to finish second in it last month.
“I’d have preferred to have drawn outside California Chrome,” said trainer Bill Mott, whose last Dubai win came in the 1996 World Cup with Cigar.
Like Chrome, Lea is a handsome chestnut who has looked great this week. He races beyond nine furlongs for the first time.
“You never really know if they can do a mile and a quarter until you try,” Mott said.
African Story could become the first repeat World Cup winner but will need more than he showed in winning the Maktoum Challenge Round 3 on March 7 over fellow World Cup entrant Prince Bishop. African Story has specialized in synthetic-surface racing, and it was class and will that got him home last out.
Epiphaneia is the classier of the two Japanese starters but never has raced on dirt and employs a come-from-behind style that has played poorly on Meydan dirt. Candy Boy, purchased privately and shipped here from the U.S. early this winter, was several lengths slower than California Chrome last year.
That Swaps trip of lore in 1955? It ended with a Kentucky Derby win. There’s a strong chance that Sherman’s modern journey will prove similarly fruitful.