Dual Eclipse winner California Chrome (Lucky Pulpit) was doing well Sunday morning following his ultra-impressive defeat of MGISWs Beholder (Henny Hughes) and Dortmund (Big Brown) in the GI TVG Pacific Classic Saturday evening.
“He looked good, I went over him, knees, ankles, everything was tight, everything looked good,” said trainer Art Sherman, who was at Del Mar at 5:00 a.m. to check on his charge before he shipped back to his Los Alamitos base later that morning.
California Chrome is a perfect five-for-five in 2016, including wins in the G1 Dubai World Cup Mar. 26 and a gritty defeat of Dortmund in the GII San Diego S. at Del Mar July 23. Hustled to the front from his rail draw Saturday, the 2014 Horse of the Year never looked back, posting impressive splits en route to a five-length victory over what was arugably one of the best Pacific Classic fields ever assembled.
“I knew at the 3/8ths pole the race was over and Victor [Espinoza] said he geared him down the last 16th of a mile,” Sherman said. “If he would have rode him out there's no doubt he would have been close to the track record. But this was great. I'm not looking for track records. Let him come back well. We've got some serious races ahead this year with the [GI] Breeders' Cup Classic being the final goal.”
The 79-year-old conditioner added, “He's just a once-in-a-lifetime horse and I'm just lucky to get him,” Sherman said. “Right now, he's the best horse in the world. I wouldn't be afraid to run him against anybody.”
Hall of Famer Richard Mandella reported that 2015 Pacific Classic winner Beholder was doing well following her runner-up effort in this year's renewal and tipped his hat to the winning connections.
“The winner was awesome,” Mandella said. “[Beholder] ran well. Gary [Stevens] could see that she wasn't going to beat California Chrome, so he got second and we're very proud of the race she ran. She seems to be fine this morning, although we haven't gotten her out of bed yet.”
Mandella was unsure of Beholder's next start, but was not ready to rule out the possibility of facing males in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic. The three-time champion was scheduled to face Horse of the Year American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) in last year's Classic, but was forced to miss the Breeders' Cup after bleeding during a workout.
“We're not ready to take on the world like we were last year [after the Pacific Classic], but she's still pretty good,” Mandella said. “We'll leave it all open for a little while, but we may go a little more conservative into the Breeders' Cup. But we're not going to shut any doors today.”
Fellow Hall of Famer Bob Baffert was pleased with his charges, third-place finisher Dortmund and fourth-place finish Hoppertunity (Any Given Saturday), Sunday morning.
“It was a good day of racing,” Baffert said. “A lot of people showed up, my horses showed up and ran well. But it wasn't really the race we were expecting. We didn't want to go too fast [early], but then when California Chrome got away and was just cruising, we were all running for second.”
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
