Chrome Star of Show at California Chrome Fan Day

One of the best things about living in Kentucky is my proximity to some of the best farms and horses in North America. When Taylor Made Farm announced that they would be opening their doors to fans so they could visit California Chrome during six sessions over the weekend a few friends and I (and quite a few other people, as the sessions sold out in a matter of hours) jumped on the chance.

Photo courtesy of Nicole Russo
Taylor Made purchased part of the colt earlier this year and he has been resting there this summer while recovering from a small injury. But with his final check-up scheduled for Oct. 1 and a plan to send him back to trainer Art Sherman the following week if all is okay at that final appointment, they decided to give everyone a chance to see “Chrome” before he headed back to California.
After being greeted by multiple friendly Taylor Made staff members I headed to the main stallion barn area where there was a California Chrome merchandise tent set up. There were shirts, hats, books and even a California Chrome halter available for sale. It was obvious the tent was a great idea as throughout the visit, I saw many fans wearing things they had bought from the tent.

The interesting thing about Taylor Made’s stallion complex set up is that they have multiple barns with two stalls each and they make a semi-circle around the stallion show ring. So when you’re walking down the path from the parking lot and breeding shed, you are greeted by the stallions in those barns. Old Fashioned seemed to be the unofficial greeter for the visitors to the complex when we arrived, sticking his head out the door to beg for some attention.

Of course, when a pretty horse sticks their head out of their stalls I always have to visit so I headed over to his stall. Old Fashioned is quite the character and spent the whole time playing with his tongue. I’m pretty sure he loved getting the attention for it because the more people came over to see him, the more he showed off. It seemed like he was determined to make up for his barnmate Northern Afleet who was more interested in telling people that he wanted the go out to his pasture than being social.

The next barn up had one-time 2010 Kentucky Derby favorite Eskendereya and 2011 Preakness Stakes third place-finisher Astrology. Like Old Fashioned, Astrology was playing official greeter for his barn with pricked ears. His chestnut barnmate also greeted us with ears pricked but he was a little less enthused about having visitors to his barn.

Eskendereya’s drowsy mood didn’t keep people from stopping by to see him and he seemed to be willing to have brief conversations with people. I’m pretty sure it was just to try and get some free treats out of them though.

The most popular barn at Taylor Made when I was there on Friday though was definitely the next one in the circle.

The barn houses Graydar and California Chrome, the two newest stallions to the farm. While Chrome has only been at Taylor Made for a few months and will be headed back to the track shortly, Graydar has been here for a few years and has first foals on the ground. He was more than willing to show the new kid how to properly greet fans, sticking his head out the window nearly the whole session.

But Chrome made it pretty clear that he had it handled. Chrome isn’t new to the game of pleasing his fans and stepped up his game to make Graydar a little jealous.

Chrome and his Taylor Made groom seem to have a great relationship, both playing up to the crowd.

Pretty soon, the Taylor Made crew directed us down to the show area so everyone could get a good look at Chrome. As the people in the crowd found the perfect spot, Graydar was being prepared to open the show. The ultimate show-off, Graydar posed the whole time he was waiting to come down to the ring.

Duncan Taylor, President and CEO of Taylor Made, was the emcee through the event and gave everyone a little rundown on the history of Taylor Made.

Everyone was interested in what he had to say, including Chrome who stuck his head out of the stall so he could learn more about his new co-owner.

While Graydar was parading for the fans, Duncan told the crowd a little bit about the stallion and his history with Taylor Made. Graydar is by Unbridled’s Song, a stallion who was Taylor Made’s flagship stallion for many years before Graydar came to the farm so Duncan touched on that while talking about the legacy Unbridled’s Song has left the breed with.

Graydar enjoyed his time in the limelight and looked very proud of himself as he headed back to his stall.

Within seconds of Graydar going back into his stall, his roommate came out of the barn for his chance to shine. Chrome made quite the picture coming down the walkway with the trees changing colors behind him.

He knew he was on display for everyone at the farm and from the time he got to the crowd to the time he went back to the barn he was on full model mode.

After California Chrome headed back to the barn, those who hadn’t gotten their picture taken with him at his stall before were able to go back to the barn to meet him and get the picture. Unsurprisingly, a line quickly formed.

Of course in the name of professionalism, I had to check the champion up close. It just so happened that my friend had my camera and snapped a few photos. Just kidding … I was one of the people in that line I just talked about. What can I say? You don’t have the opportunity to have your picture taken with a dual-classic winner very often!

And with that, the first session of the Visit Chrome weekend was over. One last visit to the other stallions showed that Old Fashioned was exhausted. Sometimes being greeted by your adoring fans (I don’t think anyone told him we were there for Chrome) is really hard.

Taylor Made handed out a cool poster to everyone who came but after listening to all the thanks the employees got, the most important thing many who came got wasn’t the poster, it was the chance to see California Chrome up close and personal.
If all goes well, this won’t be the last time the public gets to see California Chrome before he retires as he has a 2016 campaign mapped out with his first target being the 2016 Dubai World Cup, a race he finished second in last year.