Del Mar fans may have seen Chrome for last time
Heroes in horse racing, it seems, always go away too soon. If Saturday evening’s spectacular wire-to-wire performance was indeed the last for the great California Chrome at old Del Mar, what a way to go out.
“Nobody I know has looked at it that way,” Art Sherman, his 79-year-old trainer, said on Thursday afternoon. “But, and I hate to say this because I’d love to see him run next year, there’s probably a very good chance that we won’t see him here again.”
Chrome dominated the field, winning the Pacific Classic by 5 lengths, cementing his legendary status among most Southern California racing fans. Winner of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness in 2014, when he was Horse of the Year. Winner of five straight this year, including the $10 million Dubai World Cup. The richest North American horse in history with earnings of $13.25 million.
But also, most likely to be nearing the end of his brilliant career. Sherman said the plan is for his 5-year-old star to run next in the Oct. 1 Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita, before he goes after the Breeders’ Cup Classic, also at Santa Anita, on the first Saturday in November.
Finally, there’s the proposed $12 million Pegasus World Cup, which would be run Jan. 28 at Florida’s Gulfstream Park — if all goes according to plan. Twelve partners that own horses, including Chrome’s connections, have committed to paying $1 million apiece to fund that race, but not everything has been solidified.
What is known is that horse racing will soon lose another icon. In California Chrome’s case, fans have been lucky to see him run as often as they have — 23 races in all. These days, most star horses are retired to stud after either their 3- or 4-year-old seasons.
A prime example is American Pharoah, horse racing’s first Triple Crown winner in 37 years, whose career came to an abrupt halt following his 3-year-old campaign in 2015.
“If you were the ownership of American Pharoah,” said his Hall of Famer trainer Bob Baffert, “and somebody said they’d hand you over $20 million if you retired your horse, what would you do?”
And therein lies the issue. For superstar horses, there’s more money to be made at stud than there is to be made on the race track. As a result, heroes are gone almost before they’re born.
“The temptation is always going to be there,” said Joe Harper, Del Mar’s president and CEO. “And you understand why so many horse owners do it. But in some cases, you get lucky, and some great horses like California Chrome and (6-year-old) Beholder stay around.”
Chrome could have retired early as well, but fortunately for race fans, he was not blessed with the same superlative bloodlines as many others. One of the things that has made him so popular is the fact that he’s just a “normal” horse compared to those who fetch huge fees at yearling sales.
As Baffert said, “He’s one of those rare cases where a big-time horse can earn more money by racing than he could have by retiring to stud.”
There have been others over the years who have run late into their careers, but other than the mare Zenyatta, most were geldings such as John Henry (Horse of the Year in 1981 and 1984), Best Pal, Forego, Native Diver, Ancient Title and Lava Man.
That’s a talented list, but it’s not a long enough list.
“It’s great for our sport when it happens,” Sherman said. “But when it doesn’t, we don’t have any heroes to root for. I think people have fallen in love with California Chrome because he has been so good for so long. He has been fun to watch.”
Unfortunately, it’s doubtful that anyone at Del Mar will be able to watch him again.
Notable
Jockey Rafael Bejarano won the fourth race Thursday aboard Formulate, but leading rider Flavien Prat came right back to win the fifth with Enduring Erin. Bejarano answered with a win in the sixth on Plum Daddy to reduce Prat’s lead in the jockey standings to two (29-27) with nine racing days left. Bejarano has won the last four summer riding titles here.
Ello is a freelance writer.
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