For Immediate Release: Wednesday, September 17, 2014 Kjones@parxracing.com
CALIFORNIA CHROME MAKES HIS INITIAL APPEARANCE AT PARX
Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner California Chrome, with exercise rider Willie Delgado aboard, made his first appearance on the track at Parx at 8:30 a.m. ET, slowly jogging a mile under beautiful sunny skies, getting his initial feel for the lay of the land at the Bensalem track. Bright and alert, the handsome chestnut son of Lucky Pulpit looked to be enjoying the moment as he prepares for Saturday’s $1 million Pennsylvania Derby (GII)..
“He was great,” remarked assistant trainer Alan Sherman. “He posed and strutted his stuff. Tomorrow we’ll school him in the paddock and then take him out to gallop a mile and a half. Friday we’ll school at the gate and he’ll gallop one more time.”
When asked about the issue of the long flight yesterday, Sherman said “He ships so good. He never turns a hair. He doesn’t mind the travel one bit. It’s given us the opportunity to take him wherever we want.”
When asked whether the defeat in the Belmont Stakes and the dashed dreams of a Triple Crown, Sherman said, “It’s horse racing. We can’t dwell on that. He ran his heart out and that is all that matters. He tried and got beat, it’s just one of those things.”
It’s been three months since he’s raced, has anything changed? “No,” said Sherman, “he hasn’t changed a whole lot. His weight is just about perfect and he’s so good mentally. He’s just a cool horse to be around. It makes our job a lot easier.”
Knowing that their colt has been off for three months and the fact that three year-old rival Shared Belief has been back racing and looking tremendous while winning at Los Alamitos and Del Mar has not been missed by the connections of California Chrome. “We look forward to facing him in the Breeders’ Cup but we really didn’t want to race against him right now.” A remark that truly speaks to where the two colts are right now in late September and the respect felt in the Chrome camp toward their undefeated rival.
Kaleem Shah’s Bayern, trained by Bob Baffert, second choice at 7-2 in the Pennsylvania Derby, galloped a mile this morning under assistant trainer Jimmy Barnes.
“He worked on Sunday, walked Monday and Tuesday and today he went straight off and galloped out a mile,” said Barnes. “He went over the track very nice.”
Thoughts on Bayern’s 10th place finish in the Travers Stakes: “I didn’t like the track after the rain. After the rain you never know what kind of track you are going to get. Saratoga is a funny track. You can’t just go in there and ship in. It’s not an easy track to win a race.
Thoughts on taking on California Chrome in PA Derby: “If there is any time to do it, it’s probably be now. He is coming off a layoff, He (California Chrome) has good works… We’re ready to take him on”
Barnes said that Bayern, winner of the William Hill Haskell in July, will gallop a mile and a quarter Thursday morning.
CRK Stable’s Candy Boy, who arrived with California Chrome yesterday from California, walked the shedrow today. Trained by John Sadler, the bay son of Candy Ride finished second by a nose in the West Virginia on August 2 to fellow Pennsylvania Derby entrant Tapiture.
Candy Boy’s groom, Cesar Aguilar said, “He shipped well, he ate well, and his temperature is normal. Sometimes my boss likes to see how the horse ships before doing much. He’ll go to the track tomorrow.”
*** Two fillies for the $1 million Cotillion went to the track today:
JoJo Warrior (Assistant Trainer Jimmy Barnes)
Assistant Trainer Jimmy Barns: “She galloped a mile today. She got over the track very nice It’s a tough race, but she is on top of her game right now and I think we’re in good shape.”
Little Alexis (trainer Carlo Vaccarezza)
“I think she deserves the chance. She is bred to go two turns and we’ve been prepping her down at Gulfstream Park to go two turns. She is lightly raced and she’s been improving with every start. In her last race The Test( Aug. 2, third place) at Saratoga Race Course she was in trouble from the get-go and she got bumped a lot down the backstretch.
Tapiture and Untapable
Trainer Steve Asmussen reports that both Tapiture (5-1) in the Pennsylvania Derby and Untapable, the 7-5 Cotillion favorite, will be shipped Thursday from Saratoga at 5:00 a.m. ET to Parx.
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