Big payday for California Chrome in return to racing

He collected roses in Kentucky and was blanketed with black-eyed Susans in Maryland. But after getting stepped on out of the gate in New York and letting Tonalist slip away with the blanket of carnations, California Chrome is back for one last $1 million race against 3-year-old classmates in the Pennsylvania Derby at Parx Racing in Bensalem, hard by the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

Pennsylvania’s peak season for fall colors is a few weeks away. The hillsides here still sport plenty of greenery — that’s green as in the dollar bills Parx Racing and Casino is giving the connections ($100,000 to the owners, $100,000 to trainer Art Sherman) of California Chrome just for getting the colt into the starting gate for the Grade II race today. If he wins, California Chrome — who was denied the Triple Crown in the Belmont Stakes — will get a blanket of red carnations and another $600,000 or so.

As much as Sherman and owners Steve Coburn and Perry Martin say it’s not about the money, it did play a part in them choosing this race over a duel against undefeated 3-year-old Shared Belief in the Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita. California Chrome and Travers champion Bayern (trained by Bob Baffert) are first and second on the morning line, with California Chrome the even-money favorite and Bayern at 7-2.

If Chrome overcomes a three-month layoff since the foot injury he suffered at the start of the Belmont, wins his sixth race in seven starts this year, and beats this field of talented 3-year-olds from the dreaded No. 1 post, then it’s fair to call him the super horse many thought he was after he won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. And it will set up a showdown in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita on Nov. 1 against Shared Belief, a race that the whole sport wants.

“I didn’t draw the best position in the world, but we’ll see how the race unfolds,” Sherman said. “I think there will be an honest pace. If they don’t go after Bayern, I’m not going to just let him gallop along on the lead. The horse has a little speed himself.

“I couldn’t be more pleased,” Sherman added of Chrome. “ Right now he’s as good as I’ve ever seen him.”

Sherman said Chrome, other than adding 70 pounds, didn’t regress much during his hiatus. But Ron Winchell, owner of the Steve Asmussen-trained Tapiture (5-1), believes this is the best time to face Chrome. Tapiture and Todd Pletcher’s Protonico (8-1), who won the Smarty Jones Stakes here on Sept. 1, join Bayern as being the top upset choices.

“California Chrome is coming back trying to go a mile-and-an-eighth against horses in top form,” Winchell said. “I think that does leave him a little vulnerable. It’s definitely a good time to face him. I’d rather face him now than after he has two, three starts.”

Chrome’s stay at Parx has drawn hundreds of visitors daily. They lined the rail Friday morning to watch him train and to take pictures. One of them was Sam Fenton, a corrections officer from New Jersey whose son lives in San Diego.

“I had a chance to take off work, and I wanted to savor the moment,” Fenton said. “These moments only come around once in a lifetime. I’m a horse racing fan, a former owner, and this horse represents the working man, shows the average guy with the American dream that he can be in the sport of kings.”