Moments after Steve Coburn’s Triple Crown dream died 12 months ago at Belmont Park, he would have been wise to listen to his wife, Carolyn.
Live on American television, California Chrome’s part owner went in to full meltdown mode at what he perceived to be the cowardice of the other owners who had not put their horses through the gruelling Triple Crown series.
Tonalist had skipped the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes to win the Belmont Stakes, the concluding leg of America’s three-race series and, as Coburn huffed and hollered to a flabbergasted audience, Carolyn was there behind him pleading for him to stop.
Coburn has clearly learnt several painful lessons since then.
On Wednesday, the Nevada native will swap his trademark Stetson for a top hat and tails on the orders of Carolyn so he can watch his pride and joy run in the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot.
“The wife says, ‘get over it Steve, it is just for one day’, so I’m going without my Stetson and boots,” Coburn said.
“I have not worn a pair of shoes since I was in the army in 1979 – I have worn boots all my life. It is going to be different, but I have to go with the flow.
“I’ve got to enjoy it while I can as it may not ever happen again.
“It is maybe a once-in-a-lifetime shot.”
California Chrome will become just the fourth Kentucky Derby winner to compete at the Royal meeting after Reigh Count in 1929, Omaha in 1936 and Animal Kingdom in 2013.
America’s Horse of the Year spearheads a 13-strong US raiding party – the largest in the history of the racecourse going back to when Queen Anne came across Ascot’s open heath in 1711 and said it was an ideal place for “horses to gallop at full stretch”.
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There are myriad reasons as to why more American horses have not challenged at Royal Ascot over the years, but trainer Art Sherman pinpointed one of the key factors as soon as he touched down at Newmarket this week.
The 78 year old may possess a weathered face of experience, having worked the backstretches of California for much of his life, but he had never seen anything like Newmarket’s wide expanse, where California Chrome has called home for the past two-and-a-half months.
Having caught up with his stable star at Rae Guest’s Chestnut Tree stables and watched him go through his paces for the first time under William Buick on Thursday, it was immediately obvious to Sherman why only a handful of trainers had crossed the Atlantic with a horse, trained it at Newmarket and saddled it at Ascot.
“Adapting to this area is tough,” Sherman said.
“This is horse country. There are 10,000 acres (4,046 hectares) here – if you had this sort of space in Los Angeles you’d be a billionaire. There is not a training facility like this in America.
“I am sure glad Rae has taken over the training from me, because it is so different.”
Equine agoraphobia of Newmarket’s gallops, where they have been training horses since before the American Declaration of Independence in 1776, was one of the reasons why, two seasons ago, Graham Motion lodged Animal Kingdom 65 kilometres away in the village of Lambourn ahead of his failed bid in the Queen Anne Stakes.
Wesley Ward, who has brought 10 horses from America, is stabled in the idyllic setting of Manton at Wiltshire, more than 160km away from the hustle and bustle of England’s racing headquarters.
Newmarket has been the base of California Chrome since his gutsy effort in a furious-paced Dubai World Cup in March saw him hold on to the runner-up spot behind Prince Bishop in the world’s most valuable race.
The run illustrated that he could perform not far off his best in alien conditions, a useful attribute when so many horses from outside of Europe have failed to translate their domestic form to Ascot’s unique test.
Neither Sherman nor Coburn had seen California Chrome since Meydan and absence clearly has made the heart grow fonder.
Sherman coped without his stable star at his Los Alamitos base, where he has about 20 horses, by replacing him with a lookalike.
“We have a big sign up there saying, ‘the Home of Chrome’, and people come up to ask me when he is coming home,” Sherman said. “I bought a colt at the Keeneland sale who had three white socks, not four. I had to put him in there while Chrome was away, I couldn’t keep it empty.
“He’s called Mucho Chrome. He has big shoes to fill, but maybe we can get lucky again.”
For his part, Coburn likened parting with California Chrome to sending his son to war.
Following the World Cup, none of Sherman, his son Alan, or Coburn thought it was a good idea to come to Britain, but with Perry Martin, the 70 per cent owner, his wish was carried out.
After California Chrome left Dubai, Martin said in a statement that it had been a mistake to prep the horse for the World Cup in the San Antonio Stakes, rather than in a race at Meydan.
When the Shermans, Coburn and Martin all voted on the best prep race for their horse, Martin abstained.
Martin went on to say that his decision to send California Chrome to Ascot was in the best interests of his horse as a win would open up a new market for California Chrome when he retires to stallion duties.
It seems that Coburn has come around to this way of thinking.
“This horse has been quite a travel agent for us – we have gone on first trips to Kentucky, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Dubai and now England,” Coburn said. “I’ve met Sheikh Mohammed and his son, and they are pretty cool guys, and if I meet the Queen I’ll make sure I’ll be courteous.
“You kind of get giddy about all of this. It is a fairy tale come true. Our lives haven’t changed and we are still the same people.
“To see what this horse has grown up and done, it makes you think how many people have bred horses and never had a horse like this.
“We were damn lucky. We are just two regular guys, and we did it. We stuck to our game plan and it has paid off in quite a tremendous way.”
Perhaps Coburn should listen to those closest to him a little more often.
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