He does seem very happy and I’m happy for him. 
He has a lovely farm. Interesting that the weather is similar to Kentucky.
They have Tsunamis!!!
Very nice interview, thanks for the link.
He made a LOT of money and stayed sound and he didn’t do to bad in his breeding years here. I hope he gets good mares and becomes the next Sunday Silence. Besides being fun to watch (remember the race where his saddle slipped back), he is elegant and seems to have a nice temperament. So no, he’s not a KY blue-blood, but there sure is a lot to like about him.
Good luck to California Chrome and Keisuke Onishi.
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CC’s 2020 fee has been set.
https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/237314/california-chrome-highlights-arrow-studs-2020-fees
If they’re going to go with those sort of racist tropes, I would point out that the Japanese do not like to “lose face,” and they lost a lot of face with the Ferdinand incident. My understanding is that many of these horses sold overseas have clauses in the contract that they will be returned to the US should the Japanese breeders no longer want them. I think Chrome is probably pretty safe - they wouldn’t want another incident like Ferdinand.
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This is a very interesting article about California Chrome and how the sale to Japan came about:
Interesting article and does, to me, make sense. Maybe a case of ‘take the money and run’ given the marginal success at sales in 2019 and not appearing to really stamp his get so far.
Yeah, the new (well, almost new) 2YOs will have growing to do. Track performance is at least 6 months off in the future, I think, to really begin to get a feel for performance.
If Japan has an interest and his pedigree may be a good fit, then I think the sale makes sense for all parties involved.
Nice to hear the Martins are continuing to support CC.
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They start writing 2yo races in April.
I don’t want to speak for WMW, but I think she was indicating that it will take some time into 2020 before anyone knows how good or bad the CC offspring are. (And perhaps longer than that depending in how precocious they are.)
April 2yo races prove nothing about a new sire’s ability.
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Thanks, that is a good article.
Of course there are the usual commenters stubbornly maintaining that Chrome has a great stallion pedigree. Um, just because you want it to be that way doesn’t make it so.
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I was merely pointing out that track performance is only 4 months away, not 6. Early winners are very important for a new sire and hugely touted at the auctions. They may not be reflective of the true ability of a stallion but early winners are great for freshman sires, especially for those trying to sell offspring. Having the auctioneer announce a new winner or two is good for sales, and those who are sort of left in the lurch with CC’s sale and departure.
