For Immediate Release: Friday, September 19, 2014 Kjones@parxracing.com
CALIFORNIA CHROME PRONOUNCED READY FOR PA DERBY
Under the watching eye of trainer Art Sherman, California Chrome made his final preparations Friday for his return to racing in Saturday’s G2, $1,000,000 Pennsylvania Derby at Parx. Having arrived late yesterday, it was Sherman’s first look at the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner since he’s come to Bensalem.
“He looked great today,” said Sherman. “He was on the bit. I couldn’t be more pleased. Right now he’s as good as I’ve ever seen him.”
Well aware of the layoff and the current state of the other PA Derby contenders, Sherman was quite frank, “They have an edge on him,” he said. “We hope he comes back sound and know what’s ahead of us. He’ll have to be at his best to best these horses. Wherever you come back you need some starting point, and for Chrome this is it.”
Along with galloping a mile and half this morning, California Chrome spent some time schooling at the gate. “He was a little reluctant at first,” said Sherman. “But once he was in he was fine. He’s so professional. He does what he wants to do. You know he’s a little spoiled. We don’t worry, though. He doesn’t kick, doesn’t do anything crazy. He’s just Chrome.”
Much has been made this week about his post position, having drawn the rail in the eight horse field. The inside did not play favorably for him in the Belmont Stakes. “I’ll watch to see how the rail is playing,” said Sherman. “But if he gets beat I hate to make excuses. If you have the best horse, you have the best horse. The other jocks know he’s down there and they’ll give him no quarter. We just hope he gets a clean trip.”
Sherman also knows how dangerous Haskell winner Bayern can be if he’s allowed to stroll to an easy lead. “Chrome can be a speed horse himself,” said Sherman. “But I’ll leave it up to Victor (Espinoza, Chrome’s jockey). We’ll let him judge the pace and move earlier if we need to.”
Even though California Chrome’s resume includes two Classic wins on top of victories in the G2 San Felipe and the G1 Santa Anita Derby, with the emergence of Shared Belief, there are some who feel the three year-old championship is not yet a done deal. “It’s always been a great honor (to win the 3YO championship),” said Sherman. “Jerry (Hollendorfer, trainer of Shared Belief) and I have been good friends for 30 years and I’ve been chasing his butt for a long time. I’d like to kick it one time.”
John Sadler, Trainer of Candy Boy
“We gave him a good gallop this morning. I think he knows when we’re going. He never seemed to have to take a specific type track, so hopefully it will be something he likes. He seems to be very adaptable.”
Is he peaking? “I think he is as good as or better than he’s ever been. We gave him some time off after the Derby. We had a nightmare and no chance in the Kentucky Derby. He had a wide post and got wiped out, so we gave him a little time off. We ran him once in California before we thought about running out of state. Unfortunately, that was with Shared Belief. He ran a good race that day and beat the third horse a long way. In West Virginia, he ran great over there. We got home and thought the spacing was good to this race, so here we are.
On race strategy - “He’s a stalker. He wants to be just off of the speed. I don’t want him way back. He should get a stalking type trip. It would fit him very well. Baffert is clearly talking about wanting the lead with that horse, and California Chrome will be up there early. We’ll be just behind them.”
On jockey Joel Rosario – “We’ve won tons of races together while he was here in California. He rode his first winner in Southern California for me and we’ve had a lot of success. We’ve had a lot of success, whether it was Sydney’s Candy or Twirling Candy or Zazu. He’s been leading rider, I’ve been leading trainer. He’s also a friend of mine. When he came over for this race, we decided to put him on. Nothing against Corey. He rode my horse very well last time, but if Joel is available, we’re going to use him.
Jim Barnes, Assistant Trainer -Bayern –
Bayern, the Haskell winner galloped once around the track today.
Barnes commented on Bayern’s disappointing Travers. “After the race, in the stall, that’s the only way I can describe it. He looked angry. He knew he got beat, from what I could see, from his body language. He can be kind of aggressive, kind of feisty, and he didn’t look the same. He never missed a day. We gave him like five days off after the Travers, just because we traveled so much. We’re thinking, well, it was a mistakes going to the Travers. We’ll see how he looks now. We know what’s ahead of us and where we’re going to go – and if he’s doing well we’ll take a shot at Pennsylvania. He showed Bob he was ready to come to this race, with the works.”
On facing California Chrome – “I think if there’s any time you can beat him, maybe coming off a layoff, this would be the time. He’s a great horse, taking nothing away from him. He’s a classic horse. He may well show up Saturday and prove that he is a champion.”
Scott Blasi, assistant to Steve Asmussen Tapiture, Untapable
Both Winchell Thoroughbreds’ starters, Tapiture for the Pennsylvania Derby, and the favored Untapable for the Cotillion, schooled in the Parx paddock at 10:00 a.m.
“Both of these horses’ works and preparation up to this race have been exactly where we want them to be and we’re happy where they are right now.”
“Tapiture galloped a mile. His energy level is good. He got over the track really well.”
On the race strategy- “I think Tapiture is going to be stalking. I think there’s good pace in the race and he’s pretty handy away from there. I see him having a nice stalking trip. He drew well on the outside (post 7).”
On facing California Chrome at this point – “He’s just fresh, you know? We gave him plenty of time after the Derby. We missed the other two Triple Crown races. We got him freshened back up in the Matt Winn (June 14 at Churchill) win. He’s coming into this race third race off the layoff with plenty of spacing in between his races.
“You run against the Derby and Preakness winner, that’s not an easy task. Those races aren’t flukes that he ran. If he’s still at that caliber, he’s going to be hard to beat. We do believe that Tapiture is bigger, stronger and he’s fresh right now and as fit as he can be. It’s a horse race – they all have to get in the gate and get around there. We’re happy with our horse is doing, and it’s hard to worry about how somebody else’s is.”
On this year’s 3-year-old crop – “I think the 3-year-old crop is getting better as they go. You look at Shared Belief, California Chrome; these are a nice bunch of horses. Candy Boy, Tapiture, the horse of Bob’s – Bayern – it’s a good group. I wouldn’t turn any of them down to train.”
Untapable – “She just jogged on the track and galloped an easy mile. We weren’t going to do much. She’s carrying great weight (124). “I love how she looks. She’s fresh and happy. They worked together. She’s worked with Regally Ready. She’s had some great preparation.”
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