The growing legend of California Chrome continued on Saturday, when the horse of humble beginnings won the US$1.5 million (Dh9.2m) Preakness Stakes, seizing a chance at racing's elusive Triple Crown.

Ridden by Victor Espinoza, California Chrome held off Ride On Curlin down the stretch at Pimlico and advances to the series finale at the Belmont Stakes on June 7 with the opportunity to become just the 12th horse to sweep the coveted treble.

The last horse to achieve the feat was Affirmed in 1978. Since then a dozen others have won both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness only to come up empty at Belmont, a 1.5-mile race dubbed the Test of the Champion.

California Chrome trainer Art Sherman said that three races in five weeks is a tall order, but he was delighted with what the three-year-old chestnut showed him in the Preakness.

“I’ll tell you, it’s quite a thrill,” the 77-year-old Sherman said. “I knew he had to run harder this race. Just watching him perform, coming back in two weeks, I was a little concerned. But I’ll tell you one thing – he’s a real racehorse.”

Saturday’s triumph was the sixth in a row for California Chrome, who justified his status as the odds-on favourite.

However, an obstacle cropped up yesterday that might require some finesse. Sherman suggested it was a possibility the horse might skip the Belmont, where a nasal strip that California Chrome wears when racing is not allowed by track officials.

“I’d have to leave it up to the owners,” he said. “I know they’ll be upset.”

The horse has worn the nasal strips during his current six-race winning streak. Sherman is based in California and said he was not aware that using one in New York might be a problem. He said he would talk to New York officials and the horse’s owners.

At Pimlico, Espinoza said it was exhausting trying to decide how to position his mount in the early going. California Chrome broke beautifully from the gate and Espinoza settled in behind the pace. But when Social Inclusion drew up on the outside, he had to press the issue.

“I knew they would want to get to the front, so I was going to sit second, but the next time I looked, another one had gone past, and I had to do something different from that point,” Espinoza said. “But I got in the clear and it worked out fine.”

Chrome, who cost his owners $10,000, is one step from history.

“He’s just an amazing horse,” Espinoza said.

The jockey knows how hard it is to close out the Triple Crown – he rode War Emblem to victory in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness in 2002, only for the horse to stumble out of the gate at Belmont Park. Although he recovered in that race to briefly take the lead, the horse faded to finish eighth.

The last horse to arrive in New York with a Triple Crown chance was I’ll Have Another in 2012, and he did not make it to the starting gate.

He was scratched on the eve of the Belmont with career-ending tendinitis.

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