JC / Railbird

Taylor Made

Emotional Distress

Call the Chromies the Grumpies:

… many of them were not happy [California Chrome] spent most of this year overseas. I have read, heard or been contacted about everything from wanting to know if it is possible to sue majority owner Perry Martin for animal abuse since he had the horse leave the country, to people thinking no one in England has ever cared for a champion racehorse before and that is why Chrome’s season has ended in injury.

The short answer to all of this is: “No. Just no. Please stop.”

My goodness, sue? I’ll cop to doubts about the Royal Ascot plan for Chrome because I worried he wasn’t a top-notch turf runner who could keep up with his likely competition. But I also understood majority owner Perry Martin’s desire to show off his very good horse, and I like to think that I’ve grown more empathetic to the push-pull owners feel when they have a horse like Chrome — the impulse to be conservative and keep a horse doing what you know they’re capable of, versus the sporting urge to go anywhere in the world they can take you. Sometimes you follow the second and it just doesn’t work out.

If there’s anyone who can feel glum about Chrome’s 2015 campaign, other than trainer Art Sherman, it’s the people who make up DAP Racing, which is a partnership that has very publicly broken down in recent months. Steve Andersen reported on Wednesday that Taylor Made bought out Steve and Carolyn Coburn’s minority interest in California Chrome (DRF+). The colt will recuperate from his minor injury at Taylor Made’s Kentucky farm.