'Chrome' Sister Hope's Love Sidelined

Hope's Love, the 2-year-old full sister to defending Horse of the Year California Chrome, will be sidelined four to six months with a hairline fracture in her shoulder, trainer Steve Sherman said July 15.



Hopes were high for the Lucky Pulpit   filly owned by breeders Steve Coburn and Perry Martin after a game effort in her debut at Golden Gate Fields in June, when she rallied from sixth to just miss by a neck in a 4 1/2 furlong maiden special weight event.

NOVAK: Solid Debut for Cal Chrome Sister Hope's Love



"She ran a really good race, and if it was five furlongs, she would have won that race easy," Sherman said. "But what are you going to do? That's horse racing. We just hope she comes back better and stronger."



Sherman was looking to run Hope's Love in a stakes on the Northern California fair circuit, but noticed something was off after a recent gallop.



"We just found it one day," Sherman said. "She was training really well and getting ready to run in a stakes, but she was just off after that gallop."



Martin spoke glowingly of Sherman's attentiveness regarding the filly, when X-rays did not initially show an injury.



"(He was) instrumental in discovering the injury before it became more serious," Martin said. "Conventional X-rays did not show the fracture, but Steve insisted her walk was just a little off, especially when on concrete."



Sherman, the son of California Chrome's trainer Art Sherman, sent the filly up to the University of California-Davis, where a nuclear scan revealed a stress fracture in her shoulder. Despite the bad news, her conditioner remains optimistic.



"She looks nothing like her brother. She's very short and on the petite side, but she got an 'A' for effort after her first start," Sherman said. "Maybe she'll hit a growth spurt and we can get going late in the year."