Lions, Tigers and Bears-Dubai!

When I noticed a group on Facebook following the Breeders’ Cup Championships called, Chromies Unite, as a fan of last year’s Horse of the Year and Champion Three-year-old male, California Chrome,  I quickly asked to join.

This group is made up of a select gathering of loyal California Chrome fans, and for reasons unknown by myself, most of the members seem to be of the feminine nature. One of the highlights of the group is that Carolyn Coburn is a member, and I was honored to have Carolyn respond to my friend's request.  

For the most part, in the weeks since joining the group, I have found the mood of its members to be upbeat as well as positive. The members often post great photos of California Chrome there, as well as those relating to his connection. Links to memorabilia are shared there sometimes, and so are articles or posts from outside the group, which in some way relate to California Chrome.

Recently, however, one of these articles has seemed to cause a shift in the mood of my otherwise joyful fellow fans. Released February 5, 2015 by Thoroughbred Daily News, the article is titled; ‘CC’ Prepared for San Antonio, Looking Forward to Dubai.

The fact that this article mentions the Dubai World Cup as a major target for Chrome, has my friends feeling uneasy. It is understandable that they are concerned about Chrome's safety. However, I believe their motherly instincts may perhaps be winning them over.

At this point, I should state that in no way am I writing this response as a means to appear sexist or chauvinist. Likewise, this is not an attempt to demean or degrade any of the group’s members. Instead, this piece is written to help calm the hearts of my worrying friends.

As fans of the Wizard of Oz may recall, sometimes our greatest fears can be unjustified and unwarranted. That message came through in the following scene.

This scenerio seems absolutely terrifying at this point! You can visualize the destruction, terror, murder and mayhem that’s fixing to take place here. Am I right? I was shaking in my boots!

However, is that fear warranted?  As we later discover, the Lion is a Pussycat, and his Meow is worse than his bite.

I think this represents running Chrome in Dubai. Although it would appear on the surface that shipping a horse to Dubai would expose him to tremendous peril, let’s take a look at a day in Dubai.

In order to do this, I have taken the liberty to post a few headlines from a Dubai and American news source as a way to have a means of comparison. The following headlines appear at Dubai 24/7 and USA Today as I am writing this article at 4:30 MST 02/05/2015

Today's Headlines from 24/7 Dubai

·         Woman sets man on fire in Malaysia

·         Teen smartphone depression risk exposed

·         Crazy World: Cannibal killer eats victim’s heart

·         Two rapists executed in Saudi Arabia

·         ‘Live’ stream: Trans Asia air crash rescue

·         15,000 cars go off the road on Car-Free day

·         Garuda plane skids of runway

Today's Headlines from USA Today

·         Five things to know about Thursday

·         Massive breach at health care company Anthum

·         NBC’s Brian Williams recants Iraqi claims

·         Battle looms over tough internet law

·         Jenner’s mom opens up about his gender journey

·         Two teens shot at Maryland high school

·         Futures point to gains, Global stocks falter

When I was making my comparisons of these headlines, I could not help but notice that the only murder and mayhem occurring here was that of the two teens shot an American high school. We can venture to guess that if and when the suspect is caught, they will make the insanity plea, be represented by a public lawyer, and ultimately cost thousands of hard-earned taxpayer dollars.

Meanwhile, in the Middle East, they are executing a couple of rapists. I have no problem defining which scenario I found scarier! In addition, I find it commendable that at least 15,000 people in Dubai have chosen to park their cars for a day, as a means to reduce fuel consumption and lessen pollution.  

My apologies fellow Chromies, but I honestly cannot find justification for fear here! Although I would however advise Steve, Art, and the rest of the crew to look around for something that might ward off the cannibals. In addition, they might take notice of one headline in the sports section reading, “Dubai World Cup winner African Story makes seasonal debut."

As America's Champion, California Chrome and his connections have proven that they deserve the chance to run against the best horses in the world, for the most money in the world. As loyal fans, let’s not sit around filling our heads with unwarranted concerns about safety.

Instead, we should accept the idea that despite being the “Dumb Ass Partners” of racing, these people love and cherish this horse. Let’s leave it to them to make the right call, while we wait in anticipation of another victory!