By Bloodhorse.com
California Chrome‘s co-owner/breeder Perry Martin remembers a long day a year ago filled will nervousness and anticipation. He said his heart that day never seemed to stop racing.
But it wasn’t at the 2014 Belmont Stakes (gr. I) when his superstar son of Lucky Pulpit was making his run at a Triple Crown title. The race that got Martin wound up the most had been the one he took aim on soon after his colt was born—the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I).
“The emotions were all over the board that day,” Martin said about the Derby. “Our goal, what we had mapped out, was to get to the Derby and win the Derby. My mother even checked herself out of the hospital to go watch our horse run.”
By the time the Belmont rolled around, Martin, who partners with Steve Coburn on California Chrome, said he didn’t feel any stress…at least before the race.
“When they came out of the gate, I knew immediately something was wrong,” remembered Martin. “Chrome normally doesn’t throw his head around. We just wanted Victor (Espinoza) to take care of him.”
California Chrome had sustained a superficial cut along his tendon and a more serious injury to his right front quarter when Belmont rival Matterhorn clipped his heel right after the break.
California Chrome would finish fourth in the Belmont. Soon after the race, a Belmont Park employee showed up at Martin’s box.
“They sent me to tell you your horse is bleeding,” the employee told Martin.
“Where?” Martin immediately responded. The track employee didn’t know. Martin and trainer Art Sherman headed to the barn.
“My heart was in my throat,” he said. “It was the most nervous I’d been all day.” California Chrome’s injury wasn’t as severe as they feared. He would heal and return to racing by late summer.
After the hoopla surrounding American Pharoah’s bid for the Triple Crown, Martin said he doesn’t have any advice for the Zayats on how to navigate Belmont Stakes day.
“I don’t know how you prepare for a day like that,” he said. “We (Martin and his wife, Denise) went in case history would be made, but, truthfully, it wasn’t important to me. The Derby was the race we wanted to win.”
Now Martin is mapping out a new strategy for California Chrome; he’s focusing on races that will show off the 4-year-old’s versatility and increase his value as a stallion prospect. Martin was in Central Kentucky this week meeting with farms that had contacted him about managing California Chrome’s stallion career.
Martin is unusually frank and open about his expectations. He anticipates selling the colt’s breeding rights for between $9 million and $12 million, with various financial incentives built in depending on the colt’s success throughout the remainder of the racing season. When California Chrome does go to stud next year, Martin said he expects the stud fee will be between $25,000 and $35,000.
Several California breeders have expressed an interest in breeding to California Chrome, so Martin said he may structure a program that would pay the shipping costs for California breeders if the colt ends up standing in Kentucky.
“We’re very active in the CTBA (California Thoroughbred Breeders Association), so we want for people to be able to take advantage of the strong Cal-bred program. California allows you to breed to a stallion out of state and as long as the mare is bred back to a California stallion, then both foals are eligible to be Cal-breds.
“The California program is the reason Denise and I got into breeding, so I can see that if California Chrome is a good match with a mare, then Lucky Pulpit is probably a good match, too. A breeder could then alternate years,” Martin said.
Over the next couple of weeks, Martin said he will be getting proposals from the stud farms interested in standing California Chrome, who is expected to make his next start in the June 17 Prince of Wales’s Stakes (Eng-I) at Royal Ascot. A decision on where California Chrome will stand will be made soon after Royal Ascot, Martin said. He wants to allow plenty of time to promote his young stallion and let breeders know where he will be.
“We had offers from foreign countries and said, ‘No’ ” Martin said. “We want to keep him in the States because we want to participate in the upside. We feel he’ll be a successful stallion.” Martin did note there has also been some interest in having California Chrome shuttle to Australia, which is being considered.
Putting California Chrome in the right spots to continue showcasing his athleticism is what the colt’s 2015 racing campaign is all about. Promoting his ability on the world’s stage drove the decision to enter the Dubai World Cup Sponsored by Emirates Airline (UAE-I) at Meydan Racecourse, where he finished second. And knowing how much the roundtrip to Dubai can take out of a horse, Team Chrome then decided to ship their star to Newmarket.
“It was seven hours to England on a plane instead of 23 hours to California,” Martin explained. “We saved on travel time going to Newmarket, which I feel is horse heaven. I wanted him going up and down those hills to get ready for the second half of the season.” The trip to Dubai did take a toll but Chrome has bounced back and seems ready, according to Martin, for the £525,000 Prince of Wales’s Stakes, which is run at 1 1/4 miles.
“We think he’ll do well,” Martin said. “If he’s feeling good, he’s never not tried.”
After Ascot, California Chrome will be aimed for the Arlington Million (gr. I) at Arlington International Racecourse Aug. 15, followed by the Jockey Club Gold Cup (gr. I) in late September at Belmont Park, and then the Breeders’ Cup World Championships. What race California Chrome enters in the Breeders’ Cup will depend on how he does in his other scheduled races. A win in the Arlington Million would automatically qualify him for a spot in the Breeders’ Cup Turf (gr. IT), while a win in the Gold Cup would earn him a spot in the Classic through the “Win and You’re In” program.
“We are only focused on a few factors,” Martin said. “We want prestigious races, and we want to enlarge his résumé and to show his versatility and his brilliance. It is all part of managing a stallion prospect.”