California Chrome, Going Outside the Box

Everyone is always talking about how they want our stars to go outside the box. We always scream about how owners and trainers don’t take enough “risks” with their top horses and how they always cherry pick their seasons. Just these last two years, people have been on the owner and trainer of two time Horse of the Year, Wise Dan, to go outside the box, to try his hand over dirt, or even take a stretch in distance, beyond nine furlongs…..but every year, after being promised a more inventive season, we are let down with the same mundane campaign, that is a carbon copy of the year before.

Well, now we finally have a group of connections willing to go outside the box, willing to test new waters, and we slight them. We call them greedy and stupid and above all, dumb asses. Yes, by now you know what horse I’m talking about, California Chrome.

The new owners first expressed interest in going to Japan for the Japan Cup Dirt, where the masses threw up their arms and pointed their fingers, yelling greed! They cited he’d already done enough for the year, after a long hard campaign. True, he ran hard during the spring, on the Triple Crown trail, but after the Belmont he received a respite that endured over 12 weeks, so in simpler terms, over three months. He then received his “wake up” race, in the Pennsylvania Derby, before turning things up a notch when third, by a neck, in the Breeders' Cup Classic.

Now, I understand the travel implications and medication changes, along with a lengthy quarantine is not ideal, and had anybody used that as point, I’d say they had a strong argument. However, that wasn’t the case with most people. They simply accused the owners of being greedy, by running Chrome too hard, when the horse has had a total of two races in the past five months. Not only that, but he ran his best effort, in that second off a layoff, indicating that he is possibly in the best form of his career.

However, despite the money, prestige and indications of good form, they elected to not take on the travel, and instead set their sights on the Hollywood Derby, contested 11/29, over Del Mar’s turf course. You would figure a move like that would ignite the racing world. A star that is the largest star in America’s spotlight, since Zenyatta , is attempting something more than a typical, mundane season. The connections are going outside the box and attempting a new surface.

You’d think that the masses would take to this idea like a fish to water, but no. Again, the fingers point and the voices yell greed. “They are just making a desperate attempt to steal Horse of the Year.” While this could very well be the case, which I don’t believe it is, why is it a bad thing? A race beyond the Breeders' Cup, that is outside the box…. We have been crying for the connections of a star to do this for years and as soon as we see it we slam them? Why? Because, it isn’t the right star with the right connections? They are doing something new, exciting, and adventurous, be happy about it.

Another point I’d like to hit on, that I mentioned in the last paragraph, I don’t believe this is a last ditch attempt for Horse of the Year.  It could have Horse of the Year implications, definitely, however I think this is more of a test run to see how California Chrome will take to the turf. Remember his owners mentioned that they wanted to run him over the lawn in 2015, and not just that, but in the prestigious Arlington Million. Why just up and run, in a race that prestigious, on a whim? Why run in a race that big with no idea how your horse will handle the surface? Art Sherman is no idiot, and probably wants to run him here to get a feel for how well he takes to the lawn, before committing to a race as prestigious as the Million.

So, please, can we stop with all the greed talk? I know there are people who have a dislike for the connections, and understandably so. They are unpracticed and rough around the edges and say things that come out sounding rather uneducated. However, this is a good, well thought out move. It has more upside than down, and is exactly, what we the fans and writers of racing have been crying out for. Drop the feeling of resentment for the owners, realize this fact, embrace it, and enjoy it.