California Chrome to Japan?

That’s excellent. :lol:

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All of those wonderful Kentucky bred mares that now reside in Japan seem to be immune to the radiation. They have been producing some lovely foals. :wink:

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Oh this is going to get good! Wait, we could have Godzilla Chrome or Mothra Chrome! Just wait when they load him in the “baggage section” of the plane again…there will be anarchy!😂😜

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I always thought that he might wind up in California if he couldn’t make it big in Kentucky. It sounds like Martin still has retained some interest in him, as I believe the article said they would follow him in Japan.

Much better than being sold to Turkey or Korea or someplace like that.

I’m also hoping that his foals turn out to be much better than anticipated once they hit the track.

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After living through one of the most challenging years that I have ever experienced in racing, it is more than amusing to watch these wackadoodles lose it because God forbid an investor take a profit.

Some of those Facebook comments are hysterically funny and the best part is that, unlike Barbaro, no horse was injured in the making of this Lifetime movie.

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The problem with that plan is 1) the syndicate probably wants too much money and California breeders are life and death to pay over $7500 and 2)he’s a Lucky Pulpit which was a novelty in Kentucky but here was usually shorthand for maiden claimer more often than not.

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I don’t know, maybe it’s the sushi and radiation that helps! Something’s preserved Forty Niner all these years. The last picture I saw of him from earlier this year looked pretty darn good for 34!

The wailing and gnashing of teeth is predictable but yeesh. Japan has a serious breeding program that seems focused on breeding to race and Chrome isn’t the first or last ‘name’ American stallion they’ve imported because he wasn’t popular in the US market. Of course the Chromies would need to pay attention to the entire sport to have noticed that…

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For someone who is aware of the Chromie nuttiness, but not savvy about where to find the nutty comments cited above (like the sushi and radiation ones), could someone tell me where to look? Have had an awful week at work, need a few good laughs.

On FB, “California chrome fan page”. Sally Douglas is particularly worried about the RADIATION!!!

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Also on FB “California Chromes Home” …utterly crazy. Lots of tears and teeth gnashing.

:lol::lol::lol:

I can’t believe the entitlement of these whackjobs. They all honestly believe he’s their baby and Taylor Made is their personal petting zoo. So scary…:eek:

I never said the industry was a bunch of horse-hating people. My post is in agreeance with everything you just said. at the end of the day Taylor Made is a BUSINESS. Their avenue for their business is living, breathing animals. Those animals are investments. Any smart businessman knows that taking care of those investments to protect their worth is a no brainer. their horses are given the best chance of success… to maximize profit. Its a business

You need to understand that the majority of the “Chromie” crowd views Chrome as a glorified pet. But his owners see him as an investment to make money. I am not saying they don’t love the horse; but he’s an investment. He had 50 shareholders as an ownership. those shareholders invested to buy him with Taylor Made as an investment portfolio. They did not buy Chrome because they thought he was cute and cuddly. If you did invest in him because he was cute and cuddly; you were outnumbered in the partnership by those who saw this merely as a business deal. Money was exchanged to make a profit on a stock. They made millions in stud fees in his first few years. And before his offspring could fail on the track; they took the money to send him to Japan.

Do I blame them, no. But you also need to consider the flip side of the coin. Taylor Made and their partners spent the past few years fueling the “Chromie fanclub”. The horse developed a very large following and brought a lot of fans into racing. Something the sport desperately needed. The majority of those fans have little to no horse experience and probably have a cat and dog at home. They don’t view Chrome as a lucrative business deal. They view him as “Americas Horse”; that reputation that his ownership spent a long time building up. The sale of this horse has now further fueled the fire to the fanclub racing fans that racing doesn’t care about the horse or love the horse; its all about the money

My business-minded self can sit here and say “I can see why Taylor Made did this and I don’t blame them”. And then I can put on my General-Public hat and try to see it as they would and I can understand their anger and why they feel this way and for once I can see why they want the industry, for once to put aside the business aspect and make a decision out of the genuine love for the horse.

I have plenty of trainers and industry folk on my social media. I have been watching social media carefully over the past 24 hours and I must say that it has been VERY interesting to watch reaction of fellow industry professionals on this topic and I think their reaction might surprise you. A lot of the camp agrees how bad this looks.

@snaffle1987 A friendly suggestion: you may want to stop using the phrase “you need to understand” with people who understand far more of the situation than yourself.

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Ob, dear, already put the Capt Morgan in it. Is that OK?

Back to the topic here, sort of, not sure a 2 year old with a handful of starts winning at 5 furlongs on turf necessarily confirms the sire as turf horse sire any more then just looking at a yearling does.

I liked CC, he was fun and different but my last memory is the jerk in the cowboy hat telling the press the TC was unfair and impossible to achieve today and criticizing him and CC for falling short wasn’t fair. This despite the fact nobody expressed anything but disappointment in a gallant effort and never dissed the horse.

The “wisdom’ of that proclamation of miserable sportsmanship and lack if understanding of racing became evident the very next year when AP easily won the TC.

Anyway…do you all think the radiation will kill the salmonella and E. coli in the horses feed because the Japanese eat Shushi as they ate Sunday Silence? Apparently that FB page has a different culture then we do here on COTH where fake facts and stereotypical, borderline racist and very unPC observations last about 3 minutes, even when well intended.

I’ll echo that as well. It’s already public information and/ or well known even outside of social media many industry folk don’t spend much time on unless as part of their job description.

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They’re right! Look how hideous Silver Charm looks from his long stay in Japan.

Oh wait…

Unless those shedding tears and gnashing teeth actually bet on races, attend races, own whole or partial racehorses, their cries are entirely and completely irrelevant.

the internet gave voice to everyone with an opinion. They don’t all matter.

Also, anyone who ever bought or sold a horse made a business decision. So?

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That IS a great story!

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I confess I was a big fan of Chrome when he was running, in spite of his owners. He is the epitome of the over achiever. A nothing pedigree, he wins his second start at 2, in May. Made 7 starts at 2. Had an amazing career at 3, winning the Derby and Preakness, 3rd in the BC Classic, and ending the year with a Grade 1 on Turf. Continued racing until he was 6, winning in the meantime, the Dubai World Cup with Espinoza sitting on his ass from a slipped saddle. Really amazing horse. I dont know, I guess its just me, but Im not sure I could part with a horse that made me 14 million bucks. Id be pretty happy just looking at him in my backyard. [ATTACH=JSON]{“data-align”:“none”,“data-size”:“medium”,“data-attachmentid”:10520786}[/ATTACH]

californiachrome-side-angle.jpg

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Did CC really bring fans into ‘racing’ or just general interest in a horse that caught everyone’s attention… good looking, wins some races and has a blue collar pedigree. What’s not to like from the individual horse perspective?

Of all of these Chromie fans, where are they now other than bothering Taylor Made? Are they at the track betting? Are they considering buying into a syndicate for either racing or breeding? Are they even watching some of the Breeder’s Cup and TC races on TV?

Do I think Taylor Made was trying to draw Chromies into the racing world? Not really. Do I think TM was simply catering to all these fans as not catering to them could create a negative image?

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