Huge Santa Anita crowd goes wild for California Chrome's Derby win

Huge Santa Anita crowd goes wild for California Chrome's

Derby win

California slept easy last night.

Slept easy with the peace of mind that all was right in the

world of racing. California Chrome won the Kentucky Derby. There it was, right on the ESPN crawl:

"California Chrome Wins 140th Kentucky Derby."

The frenzy that had been building even before the

California-bred colt won the Santa Anita Derby on April 5 with an eye-opening

burst through the homestretch reached its apex Saturday at 3:34 p.m. (PDT) at

Santa Anita Park.

That's when Victor Espinoza pushed the button on California

Chrome as the field of 19 turned for home in the Run for the Roses, and the chestnut son of Lucky Pulpit responded as he had in his previous four

starts with Espinoza in the saddle, turning on the jets and zeroing in on the

finish line like a horse possessed, drawing off to another daylight victory,

this one by nearly two lengths.

California Chrome's triumph transcended racing. On Santa

Anita's upgraded mezzanine Saturday, fans of all shapes and sizes -- tall, short,

thin, fat, black, brown, yellow and white, young and old and of all genders --

stood transfixed, cheering him on, surrounding giant flat-panel TVs in a maze of

humanity 12 deep and a thousand feet wide, a microcosm of perhaps what was

happening all over the land.

With all due respect, Zenyatta was never like this.

For

many, this was a unifying moment, the feel-good story of a lifetime, one to

absorb and enjoy fully, knowing it would never happen again. The California

Chrome saga has gone mainstream, on the threshold of joining household names

like Upset, Silky Sullivan, Man o' War, Seabiscuit and Secretariat.

California Chrome's nondescript sire and dam (Lucky

Pulpit-Love the Chase) rival those of Joppy and Saggy, who begot Carry Back, a

runner in 21 races as a two-year-old prior to winning the Kentucky Derby in 1960.

If he does nothing else, California Chrome has put himself

on the lead for an Eclipse Award as outstanding male three-year-old of 2014, and is

in prime pouncing position to dethrone two-time Horse of the Year Wise Dan for

those honors this year.

For Art Sherman, "The Little Trainer Who Could," the beat goes on

as the pressure intensifies to keep alive the prospect of California Chrome

becoming the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978.

Now, it's on to Baltimore for the second leg of the Triple

Crown, the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico in just two weeks, on May 17.

"The Derby win was wonderful to see," said retired Hall of

Fame jockey Eddie Delahoussaye, who watched the race at his Arcadia, California, home.

"It was

great for Art Sherman and all his boys. He's been at it a long time, and Art and

I have been friends for quite a few years.

"I've won races for him and we've been to the sales

together. We both came up from the bottom. When I came out here, there was

(Willie) Shoemaker, (Laffit) Pincay, (Chris) McCarron, guys like that. Art was in the same boat. We paid

our dues, so it's great to see him win the Derby.

"I called him this morning and he said he's going to keep

the horse at Churchill for the time being before shipping to Baltimore. He said,

'They keep talking about me being 77 years old.' I said, 'You're 77 years young.

It's not old.'

"Art did have some concern about coming back in two weeks for the Preakness,

since he's never run back in two weeks, but he said the horse is doing good, 'So

I've got to go.'"

Retired trainer Mel Stute, who sent out favored Snow Chief

in the 1986 Kentucky Derby, was thrilled for all connected with Team Sherman,

including Espinoza.

"This kid is always happy," Stute said. "I've never seen him with a frown on

his face."

Hall of Fame trainer Ron McAnally minced no words when

asked Thursday his pick in the Run for the Roses.

"They won't beat him,"

McAnally said of California Chrome, and Sunday morning he elaborated.

"Looking at all the prep races leading up to it, the

Florida Derby, the Arkansas Derby, all those races, those horses didn't compare

to California Chrome," McAnally said. "That was why I liked him."

"California Chrome runs his best race every time. He's fired five bullets in

a row, and I give the credit to the trainer and the help," trainer Richard

Baltas added.

Santa Anita handled $4.1 million on-track Saturday, up 41

percent from the $2.9 million last year at Hollywood Park. Overall, handle was

$21.3 million, an increase of 12 percent over the $19 million last year at

Hollywood Park. On-track attendance was 26,211, a whopping 158 percent increase

over Hollywood's 10,152 last year.

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