California Chrome, ridden by Victor Espinoza California Chrome won the $1.5 million Preakness Stakes, following up his Kentucky Derby triumph to seize a chance at US flat racing's elusive Triple Crown. Ridden by Victor Espinoza, California Chrome held off Ride On Curlin down the stretch at Pimlico and will now head to the June 7 Belmont Stakes 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 and since then a dozen others have won both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness only to come up empty at Belmont in the 1 1/2 mile race dubbed The Test of the Champion.
Trainer Art Sherman admitted the three races in five weeks is a tall order, but he was delighted with what the chestnut three-year-old showed him in the 1 3/16th-mile 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.
"I'm hoping the mile and a half is up his alley, too," he said. "After watching him run today, I think he really can go a mile and a half."
Saturday's triumph was the sixth in a row for California Chrome, who justified his status as the odds-on favorite in the 10-horse field.
Mexico's Espinoza said it was mentally 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.
"When the eight horse (Social Inclusion) moved in at the half-mile, I thought it was a little bit soon, but I had to go with him, and it worked out," added Espinoza, who never doubted his horse would have plenty of speed at the end.
Ride On Curlin, ridden by Joel Rosario, came on strong from back in the field, but didn't have enough to catch California Chrome.
Social Inclusion, the second-favorite with Luis Contreras aboard, was third.
"He's just an amazing horse," Espinoza said.
Espinoza has reason to know, however, 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 almost to his knees out of the gate at Belmont Park.
Although he recovered to briefly take the lead, the effort cost too much and he 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 didn't even make it to the starting gate.
He was scratched on the eve of the Belmont Stakes with career-ending tendinitis.
Source: AFP