| Stickhorse |
03-30-2016 12:18 PM |
Chrome ran a very impressive race BRAVO!
I thought Perry Martin held to the old traditions established by Steve Coburn in his interview after the World Cup. He came across as smug, superior and dislikable. Dumb Ass Partners no longer has a stable; you might remove one of the partners but you can't remove the Dumb Ass from that barn.
Here was former owner Steve Coburn's reaction in a local paper:
California Chrome still a winner as former owner watches from afar
BY STEVEN MAYER smayer@bakersfield.com
Sure, he had a bit of a meltdown after his 2014 Horse of the Year, California Chrome, finished fourth at the Belmont Stakes that June, ending a historic bid to become the first colt to win the Triple Crown since 1978.
But these days things are simpler for Foothill High grad and former Bakersfield resident Steve Coburn, who is out of the game after selling his 30 percent share of the famous chestnut thoroughbred to Kentucky-based Taylor Made Stallions last summer for an undisclosed sum.
But Coburn, 62, is still watching his beloved Chrome from afar, and has no regrets, even after watching Chrome chalk up yet another dramatic win on Saturday, this time at the $10 million Dubai World Cup in the United Arab Emirates. The 1 -1/4-mile dirt track victory earned Chrome’s new co-owners, as well as longtime majority shareholder, Perry Martin $6 million.
His performance in the Dubai World Cup puts California Chrome firmly at the top of the world’s older male division on dirt, reported the Daily Racing Form.
“Watching from afar, he is still an incredible, amazing animal — everything we knew he would be,” Coburn said Tuesday from his home in Topaz Lake, Nev.
“It’s different now, but in our hearts he will always be our horse.”
Chrome finished second in last year's Dubai World Cup, earning $2 million for Coburn and Martin. This year, he didn’t miss a step after a slow start out of the gate.
On Saturday, the now 5-year-old thoroughbred broke from the post at 11th place in a field of 12, but soon moved up on the outside, bloodhorse.com reported. At one point jockey Victor Espinoza’s “athleticism was tested as California Chrome's saddle slipped far back past his barrel (mid-section), but the jockey maintained his balance, his brilliant chestnut mount unleashed a powerful burst exiting the last turn, and the duo left their rivals in the dust in the world's richest race,” wrote reporter Claire Novak.
With the sale by Coburn, Chrome’s already tenuous ties to Bakersfield may now seem stretched even thinner. But many in the southern San Joaquin Valley still think of the beautiful chestnut horse as a hometown hero, Coburn said. And that thought gives the sentimental former owner a warm feeling.
Coburn is neither a Saudi prince nor Kentucky horse racing royalty. He was a working man who retired only last May after laboring for years as a press operator for a company that makes magnetic strips.
Some years ago he took a chance that would change his life by parlaying a $9,000 investment into one of the most successful Triple Crown contenders in modern history. Because of his and his horse’s humble beginnings, Chrome was dubbed the “people's horse.”
And Coburn will never forget him.
“It wasn’t a ride, it was a journey, an incredible journey,” Coburn said of his years of involvement with California Chrome: the win at the Kentucky Derby, the victory at the Preakness — and yes, even the heartbreaking loss at Belmont.
“And it was all made possible by an amazing horse,” Coburn said.
“I don’t think there will ever be another California Chrome.”
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