By Bloodhorse.com
CYPRESS, Calif. (Nov. 14, 2015) — California Chrome went through another easy breeze the morning of Nov. 14 at Los Alamitos Race Course, with the real work on the horizon.
A week after running two furlongs in :26 3/5 in his first drill at Los Alamitos since March, the 2014 Horse of the Year covered three furlongs in :39 3/5 Saturday morning, according to track clocker Russ Hudak. Assistant trainer Alan Sherman timed the colt in :38 and change.
As California Chrome moved past trainer Art Sherman and owner Perry Martin in the stretch under exercise rider Dihigi Gladney, the conditioner said, “He’s got a hell of a hold on him, doesn’t he?”
“He was just galloping. (Gladney) had a nelson on him,” Sherman said after the workout. “Now we can let him run a little bit next time.”
Sherman indicated the son of Lucky Pulpit will breeze significantly faster during his next drill Nov. 21.
“He’ll smoke around there next time—probably go in :36 and change,” Sherman said. “All I wanted to do (with his early breezes) is get him legged-up—open up his lungs. That’s the main thing. Go easy, because when you ask him, he’s so push-button. He can do about anything, but I want to make sure he’s legged-up before we do anything with him.”
The breeze Saturday will be the first to go on California Chrome’s worktab since March. The two-furlong breeze Nov. 7 was too short to qualify. He’ll continue to drill every Saturday at Los Alamitos, working toward the $200,000 San Pasqual Stakes (gr. II) Jan. 9 at Santa Anita Park, which will be his first start since a second-place finish in the Dubai World Cup (UAE-I) March 28.
Sherman says the dual-classic winner is galloping strong nearly every morning, about 1 3/4 miles each day at Los Alamitos, giving every indication he wants to run longer and faster.
“(Gladney) couldn’t pull him up when he went around the turn,” Sherman said. “I had a laugh, because that’s what he does. With Victor (Espinoza), even when he’s running big, he tries to pull him up and he goes all the way around with him, which is pretty cool.”
Sherman has laid out a tentative plan for California Chrome’s 5-year-old campaign, with the San Pasqual, another run in the Dubai World Cup, the Pacific Classic (gr. I) at Del Mar, and the Breeders’ Cup World Championships all as targets.
“Perry himself says after Dubai, he’ll come back to California and we’ll go from there,” Sherman said. “It would be nice to run him in the Pacific Classic, then we can go to the Breeders’ Cup, with it at Santa Anita. It’s all the right moves.”