California Chrome's Historical Doppelganger
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Photo:
Melanie Martines
Every once in a while, a horse comes along that isn’t
supposed to do great things, but does anyway. That’s the case with California
Chrome, who is set to make his run at the first Triple Crown in 36 years next
month at Belmont Park.
Racing is filled with stories like this, of equine heroes
sprouting from places that are off the beaten path. In fact, one could argue
California Chrome’s historical doppelganger surfaced 90 years ago.
Sarazen was named for champion golfer Gene Sarazen, and he wasn’t supposed to be a champion. He was severely inbred to Domino, who appears three times in sire High Time’s pedigree, and dam Rush Box was an unraced thoroughbred who sometimes served as a work horse on her owner’s farm.
Despite his less-than-stellar breeding, though, Sarazen had
a long, distinguished career, winning 27 of 55 races and banking $225,000 back
when that was a serious chunk of change. His success prompted renowned breeder
John Madden to produce one of racing’s best one-liners.
"When a man can breed a Quarter
Horse to a plow mare and get a horse that can beat everything in America,” he
said, “it's time for me to sell out."
Sounds awfully familiar, doesn’t it? Almost like a Cal-bred
sired by a horse who never won past 5 1/2 furlongs, one out of an $8,000 claimer
who won just one race in her career.
It gets weirder. Despite the appearance of a speed-first pedigree, Sarazen had stamina from parts of his lineage thanks to the presence of European champions Bend Or and St. Simon. California Chrome’s family tree, meanwhile, includes dashes of A.P. Indy, Seattle Slew, Northern Dancer, Danzig, and Sir Ivor.
Sarazen stretched out to 10 furlongs for one of his greatest
triumphs, a win in the 1924 International Special where he set a new track
record. California Chrome stretched out to 10 furlongs for one of his greatest
triumphs, a score in the 2014 Kentucky Derby where Victor Espinoza wrapped up
on him several strides before the wire.
Sarazen was American’s leading money-earner in his
3-year-old campaign, banking $95,640. While it’s very early in the year, California
Chrome has nearly triple the 2014 earnings of Imperative, the second-place
horse on this season’s money list.
Sarazen went on to win Horse of the Year honors in both 1924
and 1925. It’s ambitious to think that California Chrome is in line to win that
trophy once, let alone twice.
That said, it’d sure fit the narrative, now wouldn’t it?
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