Chrome runs for redemption in Breeders' Cup Classic
California Chrome, his Triple Crown bid thwarted in the Belmont Stakes, will try to reestablish his reputation as America's top three-year-old in the Breeders' Cup Classic on Saturday. It won't be easy. The modestly bred chestnut colt with the splashy white markings captured the imagination of racing fans as he captured the first two legs of US flat racing's fabled Triple Crown -- the Kentucky Derby and Preakness. But the first Triple Crown sweep since 1978 was not to be as Tonalist seized the Belmont. "Chrome" was a well-beaten sixth in his return to racing at the Pennsylvania Derby and now has his work cut out in trying to become the third Kentucky Derby winner to go on to cap the same season with a win the $5 million, 1 1/4-mile Breeders' Cup Classic. The Classic will cap a two-day, 13-race Breeders' Cup extravaganza worth some $25 million. The return of the Breeders' Cup to Santa Anita, the picturesque circuit at the foot of the San Gabriel mountains northeast of Los Angeles, means California Chrome is back in familiar surroundings. But the colt trained by Art Sherman faces a formidable field of graded stakes winners -- including early favorite Shared Belief -- another California-based runner who missed the Triple Crown campaign through injury but has been dominant in the latter part of the season. Shared Belief is unbeaten in seven starts, and comes into the Classic with two impressive stakes wins against older horses in his last two outings. Sherman thinks Chrome is up to the challenge. "He's right on his game," Sherman said Thursday, and he thinks the 13th post in the field of 14 sets up perfectly for his horse. "I just want to be clear turning for home, and let the best horse win,” he said. Sherman and Shared Belief trainer Jerry Hollendorfer are longtime associates and friends, but some tension between Chrome jockey Victor Espinoza and Shared Belief's rider Mike Smith could add a layer of intrigue. The two riders traded barbs after Smith rode Shared Belief to a win in the Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita on September 14, when Espinoza was suspended for seven days for careless riding in allowing his mount Sky Kingdom to interfere with Smith's ride. Belmont winner Tonalist could be a factor. He has had a lighter campaign and arrives in California off an impressive win despite a troubled trip in the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont last month. - Baffert sends Bayern - Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert will try again to fill a glaring hole his resume when he sends out Bayern. Baffert is 0-for-12 in the Classic, including defeats for Game On Dude the past three years. The speedy Bayern has impressed in winning three of his last four starts, but there's some doubt about his ability to finish over 1 1/4-mile. Toast of New York, the UAE Derby winner trained by Jamie Osborne, is the sole European challenger in the Classic. Osborne liked what he saw from the horse in a routine canter on the Santa Anita track on Thursday. "I guess we won’t know until Saturday how he is going to handle the track, but he seems comfortable on it," Osborne said, adding that the colt has gained some 30 kilos (66 pounds) since his UAE Derby win in March. "That has been a gradual progression and a sign of his growing maturity," Osborne said. "Fitness-wise he is where I want him and that is my job." That said, Osborne added he'd leave race tactics to jockey Jamie Spencer. "I guess there will be plenty of pace in the race and 'Toast' will sit handy off the pace, but if the race turns out differently Jamie can adapt."
