Newcomers to the sport, California Chrome's owners sped through the Triple Crown's tollgate without paying. But Steve Coburn and Perry Martin were caught on camera.
And they beamed. National television loved their exuberant merriment, not to mention their story. They became an inspiration for every tyro, johnny-come-lately, self-styled man of the people, bourgeois bumpkin and cheerful walrus that ever thought of owning a racehorse, and when they explained that their DAP silks, purple with the silhouette of a green jackass on the back, referred to "Dumb-Ass Partners," they galvanized dumb-asses everywhere. The needle on the entertainment meter went wild. California Chrome's winning the Kentucky Derby and Preakness proved great for the game, inspirational even, emphasizing again that horse racing remains the most democratic of sports. And it helped that the horse could really run.
The great story seemed to get greater daily, and in June, the very best thing that could have happened for the sport was a win by California Chrome in the Belmont. So of course it didn't happen. The best thing that could happen for racing almost never happens. Joe Btfsplk must live here, at the racetrack, for racing to get caught so often in such a backwash of bad luck.
It took only a moment, but after the Belmont, the inspiring story went all limp and greasy, like a slice of raw bacon. California Chrome finished in a dead-heat for fourth. And in a bilious and virulent tirade, Coburn, who had taunted the racing gods and tempted fate even before the Kentucky Derby by predicting a Triple Crown sweep, put a new spin on "Dumb-Ass Partners." Getting swept up in the immediate, the excitement or disappointment of it all, might work as an excuse for a high school kid, but not here. When he accused the connections of the Belmont winner, Tonalist, of cheating, Coburn proved himself to be a pluperfect boor. In the cramped quarters of his mind, it was cheating for Tonalist to bypass the Derby and Preakness and aim instead for the Belmont. Coburn couldn't have sounded more foolish if he had attempted to explain string theory. And so a moment that could have produced the best thing that could happen for racing instead furnished a resounding embarrassment.
And so what happens next? The answer comes Saturday, when California Chrome returns in the $1 million Pennsylvania Derby. The best thing that could happen for racing would be that California Chrome win impressively and then, next week, Shared Belief easily win the Awesome Again Stakes so that on Nov. 1 the Breeders' Cup Classic becomes a winner-take-all showdown for the championship and, quite likely, Horse of the Year honors, where the two horses eyeball each other at the top of the Santa Anita stretch and take their rivalry down to the wire, where only a photo can separate them. But since that's the best thing that could happen, it won't.
From here, California Chrome looks inordinately beatable for an even-money favorite. But is his defeat a wished-for outcome, a hope for retribution, payback for the yahoo, or is it a reasoned opinion that he's beatable? Well, California Chrome is a sensational racehorse, and in the Belmont, with an injured foot and a bad trip, he was as admirable as he had been in winning. It would be easy to root for him even if he were owned by Darth Vader. And, as his trainer, Art Sherman, said, the horse doesn't have to, and indeed can't, take his owners with him into the glow of the fans' respectful admiration. No, this is a reasoned opinion: Even though California Chrome is "reaching his peak," according to his trainer, circumstances are piled up against him Saturday.
It was evident in last year's Del Mar Futurity and again in the Belmont that California Chrome prefers to be outside of his rivals. He doesn't appear to be completely comfortable inside of horses or between them, it's like he's got the middle seat on an airplane, and Saturday at Parx, he'll start from the No. 1 post position. Also, he'll confront considerable early speed Saturday. California Chrome is a stalker; he prefers to run close to the early lead, the pace, and then have a target to aim for when he's called upon. But a hot pace could burn a stalker who hasn't raced in three months, and the pace Saturday could be toasty. Among those in the field are C. J.'s Awesome, who has been on the early lead in all but one of his eight races.
And then there's Bayern, who disappointed as the 2-1 favorite in the Travers but who won his two previous races in front-running style by a total of nearly 15 lengths. At Saratoga, he shot out of the gate initially, grabbing a quick advantage and threatening to run off, and when Martin Garcia gathered him up, Bayern never recovered his momentum. His trainer, Bob Baffert, described Bayern as a free-running sort who needs to be given his head, a free rein to simply go whenever the mood strikes him.
Since the Travers and since returning to his Santa Anita base, Bayern has "worked great," Baffert said. "This horse just looks so healthy. He doesn't look like a horse who's been back and forth across the country."
Nor would Tapiture be a surprise. A winner of consecutive races, the uncommonly handsome chestnut has obviously become a better horse with maturity and experience, but that was expected. He's a late foal, born on May 3, and so he's physically where many of these 3-year-olds were three months ago. He has just begun to define himself. In the West Virginia Derby, stopped in traffic, he altered course and got up to win in the last jump. And Protonico, who won the Smarty Jones Stakes at Parx when racing in blinkers for the first time, is another who seems to be moving forward.
The Pennsylvania Derby is an intimidating place for a comeback. And since it's part of a best-thing-that-could-happen scenario -- well, life's full of toll takers.