Chamberlain Bridge returns a winner in Rail Splitter

Chamberlain Bridge is now headed to Dubai off his Rail Splitter triumph (Coady Photography) Mother Nature has been cruel to many states this winter and not very kind to racing. Freezing weather forced cancellations at many tracks in the country, including the February 4 card at Sam Houston Race Park. However, she did one favor for Houston racing fans by delivering a fast, firm turf course which attracted Chamberlain Bridge to the $75,000 Rail Splitter S. on Saturday night. The seven-year-old was expected to go for a title defense in the $60,000 Colonel Power S. at Fair Grounds, but rain has forced many races off the turf in the past several weeks. Trainer Bret Calhoun and owner Carl Moore of Fort Worth, Texas, had been looking for a race to kick off the 2011 campaign for their intrepid turf specialist. The timing of Rail Splitter and the purse increase to $75,000 solidified the decision to ship Chamberlain Bridge to Sam Houston Race Park for the five-furlong turf feature. The bay gelding faced a field of nine in the Rail Splitter, breaking alertly and stalking the pace in third while three wide under jockey Jamie Theriot. He made a sweeping rally on the turn and drew off to win by a length on the wire. The seven-year-old’s final time of :56.63 was just shy of the track record of :56.61 set in 2006 by Charming Socialite.

“We were very happy with this performance,” Calhoun said. “He’s run well off
a layoff before and he was ready. We were targeting this spot or the Colonel
Power next week. We came over very confident, but you still need to win the
race. We were hoping for a good prep for Dubai.”

The next race for Chamberlain Bridge will be the $1 million Al Quoz Sprint
(UAE-G2) at Meydan Racecourse on March 26.

“That’s the plan; we hope he comes out of the race in good condition, but we
think we got the right race in him tonight and hopefully head to Dubai to try
and get that million dollars,” Calhoun said.

Claimed for $35,000 on March 23, 2008, Chamberlain Bridge has become one of
the top turf sprinters in North America. He won five stakes in 2010, culminating
with the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G2) at Churchill Downs in November. It was
the first Breeders’ Cup win for Moore, Calhoun and rider Jamie Theriot. 

“He’s a tough horse to ride,” Theriot said. “He’ll let you know in the first
three to four jumps where he wants to be. He broke sharp (in the Rail Splitter)
and put me in a good position. He went a little wide into the turn, but I made
an adjustment and he ran his race. Bret did a great job getting him ready; he
showed up here for us.”

Theriot has tremendous regard for the class and athleticism of the multiple
stakes winner.

“I’ve been fortunate to ride this horse for a long time,” he remarked. “He’s
probably the best horse I’ve ridden. It’s great to be between his shoulders.”

Moore made the trip to Houston to see the winning performance. He reflected
on his good fortune in winning a five-way shake for the claim back in 2008.

“We were lucky that day for sure,” Moore admitted. “He ran a fantastic race
that day and has been awesome since then. My hat’s off to Bret and his team and
Jamie. They know this horse and have done a great job with him.”

Chamberlain Bridge paid $2.60, $2.10 and $2.10 for the win as the 1-9
favorite. Bred in Kentucky by Eugene Melnyk, the seven-year-old improved his
career mark to 32-17-4-6 and increased his bankroll to $1,630,245.