Thoroughbred race horses have a reputation–a somewhat justified reputation–of being high strung and temperamental. They can get nervous, stressed, anxious and overwhelmed by any number of things including big crowds and the emotions of the humans around them. California Chrome is an exception, with a reputation for being ‘laid back’. Trainer Art Sherman says his superstar horse is very calm just a few hours before the biggest race of his life.
By now everyone knows the significance and difficulty of winning a Triple Crown. There has only been eleven horses in history to win the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes beginning in 1919 when Sir Barton turned the trifecta. The last winner was 1978 when Affirmed took all three races. Since Affirmed’s victory there have been twelve horses to win the Kentucky Derby and Preakness–and no Triple Crown winners. Eleven of these horses lost in the Belmont Stakes with one (I’ll Have Another in 2012) withdrawn the day before the race due to injury. Clearly it takes more than a great race horse to win the Triple Crown–it takes a legendary race horse.
We’ll know whether California Chrome deserves ‘legendary’ status in a just a few hours but so far the stress hasn’t been an issue. In fact, trainer Art Sherman says that Chrome is his usually calm self. Sherman said that he’s also very confident heading in to the Belmont Stakes–more confident, in fact, than he was before both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness. Sherman continued to say that as long as California Chrome gets ‘a good trip’ that ‘you’ll see the next Triple Crown winner.’
With his serious training already completed California Chrome took it easy on Belmont morning with just a light jog. As of 4:30 PM Eastern Time California Chrome remains the Belmont Stakes betting favorite at 4-5 ahead of Wicked Strong at 6-1 and Ride on Curlin at 7-1. There’s also strong support for Commanding Curve at 8-1. Every other horse in the field is priced at 15-1 or higher.
The Belmont Stakes will be broadcast in the United States on NBC. The ‘riders up’ command will be given at 6:35 EDT with the post parade at 6:39 EDT. Scheduled post time for the race is 6:52 PM EDT.