Chrome Diaries: Emotional Raceday for Classic

The final day of California Chrome’s preparation for the 2014 Breeders’ Cup Classic began with a gallop at 6 a.m. on Friday. I arrived a few minutes after assistant trainer Alan Sherman and exercise rider Willie Delgado left the barn, and when they returned a short while later the report was just as it had been each day this week.  Chrome is training great.
As groom Raul Rodriquez jumped into his routine of cooling down and cleaning up the champion colt, I chatted with my friend, trainer Art Sherman and a couple of other team members as we waited for the sun to come up and the action at the track to start.

There has been a lot reported in the press and on social media regarding the future of California Chrome, depending on the outcome of this race. His majority owner has expressed his inclination to retire Chrome to the breeding shed if he doesn’t run well. Other reports have been that he will be sold to overseas interests. As our conversation turned to ownership, training and the thousands of horses Art and Alan have trained over the years, I asked if this horse was different.
I knew the answer - of course, he is different. 
He is as smart a horse as Art has trained, and his talent, spirit and nature have bonded him to his handlers and they to him. In the short time that I have been connected to this horse, and this team, I have gotten incredibly attached. These are my friends, and California Chrome is special. 
If, after tomorrow, I were never to see him again, it would be a loss. I can’t imagine how it would feel to the team, and to Chrome, to be separated after being together every day for so many months, working so hard and achieving so much.

While Art has had horses leave his barn, the look on his face when he talked about the possibility of never seeing Chrome again would move anyone. His voice trailed away and he turned to look up the shedrow. He’s focused on the race on Saturday and I think he’s trying to put what comes after that out of his mind, but it has to be hard. This team loves this horse.
Soon it was time for breakfast for Art, Alan and others who were meeting at the track, and for California Chrome. I lingered a bit, taking photos of my friend, Raul, as he did the work that has become automatic for him, cleaning and rolling polo wraps, administering therapies and raking around the shedrow to keep the dirt soft under the feet of the horses that travel those paths.

A man with a gentle smile, wearing a cowboy walked up, accompanied by a few other folks. By this time Raul and the security team that watches over Chrome 24/7 had put up the gate that keeps visitors on the outside of the barn, and when the visitors stopped there, the guard asked their names and which horse they owned.  They were the owners of Lucky Pulpit, Chrome’s sire, and were meeting the Coburns, Chrome’s co-owners for some photos.
Within a couple minutes, Steve and Carolyn Coburn walked up and greeted their guests. Even the Coburns are required to show their owner licenses before they are granted access to their horse, but they expressed their appreciation to the guard for ensuring the horse is kept safe.
Before saying hello to Chrome, Steve pulled a blue, velvet box from his jacket pocket, and told Raul that he and Carolyn had a gift for him.

Steve said they knew that Raul’s hands were always in water, and that he couldn’t wear a wristwatch, so they got him a pocket watch. He lifted the beautiful, silver watch and chain from the box, turned it over and read what they had inscribed on the back. For Raul Rodriquez - Keeper of Chrome. Then Steve grabbed Raul in a bear hug, and I almost cried for the second time in an hour.

(When I looked at my photos later in the day, I saw the ham of a colt photobombing every shot, because Carolyn was standing to the side, and he knows that means cookies.)
Just as the Coburns and company were departing, the track veterinarian arrived to do a routine check. Again, even these professionals have to produce their IDs and have their names recorded by security, and it is noted if they touch or have physical contact with the horse. 
Raul stood by as the vet went about flexing the horses joints of each leg, and then attached a stud chain and led him out to do a quick trot, up and back in the shed row. A final check will be performed just before post time on Saturday, and for now the colt checks out as sound. 

Once you have seen the activity in the barns on the backside, you begin to understand the purpose of every action and the extensive steps that are taken to ensure the health and safety of these horses. 
This is a business, to be sure, and the investment of time and money that is made by trainers, owners, grooms, riders and stablehands is considerable. But you can see the love - for the work, the life, and the horses.