Here is your 2014 Kentucky Derby winner folks, at the ripe age of one day. Who could have known this undeniably cute but otherwise nondescript chestnut born almost 3,000 miles away from the Kentucky bluegrass in California cow horse country to a bargain mare, would one day own the sport’s biggest stage? Well, his owner Steve Coburn, for one. Soon after his colt’s the Run for the Roses romp, the California cowboy (who looks like Wilford Brimley’s stunt double) told reporters about a dream he had a couple weeks prior to California Chrome’s birth.

“I believe it’s going to be a big chestnut colt with a white blaze,” he told his wife, Carolyn.

“I said this colt will go down in history…When he wins the Triple Crown, he will be the first California bred to ever win a Triple Crown.”

Sure, this could have been said tongue-in-cheek, but you have to tip your cap to the man for his prophetic confidence. After all, only three California breds had ever won the Kentucky Derby (none since 1962), and California Chrome’s pedigree was anything but classic. And make no mistake, Coburn’s confidence in his horse is not just an “aw-shucks” facade. He and co-owner Perry Martin reportedly spurned a pre-Derby offer of  [Dr. Evil voice] $6 MILLION DOLLARS for 51% ownership in California Chrome. Keep in mind they paid just $8,000 for the mare, Love the Chase, and a measley $2500 stud fee for the sire, Lucky Pulpit. In an industry where there’s no such thing as a sure thing, they turned down a sure thing. Six million of them.

Courtesy of Harris Farms via Valley Public Radio.

Courtesy of Harris Farms via Valley Public Radio.

Steve Coburn shows his colt some love after winning the San Felipe Stakes earlier this year. (LA Times/Benoit).

 

These self-described “dumb asses” are prophets. They are also a rare breed in a sport dominated by big money hustle. They walked away from assured riches because they both loved and believed in their horse.

The horse racing industry is a gamble. All of it. From the breeding to the sales, the racing and, of course, the actual wagering itself. In this game you can break even one of two ways: get lucky, or, pay a lot of money to make the unpredictable slightly more predictable. And then get lucky.

For the tycoons and CEO’s, bluebloods and royals who own a good portion of the world’s top bloodstock, enough money can eventually buy some added predictability. Certainly, the better the pedigree the greater the chance of success.

Then a horse like California Chrome comes along from the “thoroughbred Mecca” of Fresno County, California and dusts 18 rivals with superior pedigrees in the Kentucky Derby.

While the pedigree angle has its place in the industry, California Chrome is an important reminder that a good horse can literally come from anywhere. And that’s the beauty of this whole charade.

bloodhorse.com

Though his parents were not great runners, there is plenty of back class in Chrome’s family tree. (bloodhorse.com)

 

California Chrome’s sire, Lucky Pulpit, enjoyed a moderately successful career as a sprinter on the California circuit, though his classy pedigree suggests he should have been able to further. Just like male pattern baldness, sometimes traits can skip a generation. Lucky Pulpit has 99 foals in competition, just 3 of which are stakes winners, and only Chrome has won a stakes race at a distance of 1 mile or more (he’s now won 4 such races).  Lucky Pulpit never won anything over 5 1/2 furlongs and his $2500 covering fee is, in a relative sense, a giveaway.

 

Many a bloodstock analyst will tell you it’s the bottom half of the pedigree that holds the clues. In this case, Chrome’s dam, Love the Chase, is out of the vaunted Mr. Prospector line, but was a less than average performer on the track and was purchased for a mere $8000. It’s by no means a bad racing pedigree, but by Kentucky Derby standards, it’s somewhat of an anomaly.

The word “freak” is often applied in horse racing to the extraordinary. It can be in reference to a horse outrunning its pedigree over the course of a career, a bona fide superstar, or a one hit wonder who decides one day to run twice as fast as it ever has and ever will again.

California Chrome is something of a genetic freak, a fact that was evident well before the Derby. Just by winning a stakes race at a routing distance, he’d already outrun his pedigree.

Now, let’s see how far he can go.