Handy Work at Remington for Texas Chrome

Oklahoma Derby (gr. III) winner Texas Chrome put in his final official local workout on Oct. 24 at Remington Park and appears to be set to travel to Santa Anita Park for the Breeders' Cup World Championships in early November.

Trained by J.R. Caldwell, Texas Chrome handily worked five furlongs right after Remington opened for training at 7 a.m. Monday. Under regular jockey C.J. McMahon, Texas Chrome completed the distance in 1:02.52 according to Remington clocker Vicky Grothaus.

"McMahon pumped his arms a little in the final 70 yards to push him at the finish, otherwise he would have been breezing," Grothaus said. "He galloped out well at 1:15 3/5 for six furlongs."

Owned by Keene Thoroughbreds of Greenville, Texas, the Texas Chrome will carry a three race win streak into a planned start in the $1,000,000 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (gr. I). A 3-year-old colt by Grasshopper  —Margarita Mistress, by Naevus, Texas Chrome won the $100,000 Prelude Stakes at Louisiana Downs in Bossier City, La. in early Aug., prior to his triumph in the $400,000 Super Derby (gr. III) there on Sept. 10. Texas Chrome ran the streak to three straight when he squeezed inside of Sticksstatelydude, moving along the rail at the furlong pole, to battle to a half-length win in the Sept. 25 Oklahoma Derby.

While the final time of the Monday morning workout won't raise any eyebrows, how the workout unfolded and what it does for Texas Chrome is what Caldwell wanted for his charge.

"The work was a good solid work. He went slow early and finished up strong the way we wanted," Caldwell said. "He galloped out really strong so it was more of a three-quarters (of a mile) work if you count the gallop out. He finished up the last half-mile in :48 (seconds) so that was the big punch coming home to finish and that was what we were looking for. He broke off slow, finished up strong, and galloped out strong.

"He's had a pretty hard campaign going from the Preview to the Super Derby to the Oklahoma Derby," Caldwell noted. "Shortening from a mile and an eighth (Oklahoma Derby) to a mile in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, we want him to be fresh, happy, and on his toes to keep up with the speed in the race. He has the conditioning to finish with them."

Caldwell's team spent most of Tuesday getting Texas Chrome ready, along with all of the gear needed to van him to Santa Anita with a scheduled departure from the Remington stable area at 6 a.m. Oct. 26. Assistant trainer Megan Houser will handle the shipping process with Caldwell to join her and Texas Chrome in Southern California Saturday. 

"He's hauled all over the country and likes to haul, it doesn't bother him so we'll take two days to get out there with a layup about three-quarters of the way," Caldwell said. "We can't take all of his luxuries; blankets, hay, feed, and all that (on a plane) so basically we are taking his stall and all of his amenities that go with him. It's  going to be like he never even left home."