American Families have won the Derby before. Gato Del Sol, Ben Brush, Riley, Aera, Regret, and Exterminator were all A1. Swaps, Clyde van Dusen, Kaui King, and Iron Liege were all A4. This is the wonderful female family from Betty Derr which is still churning out good race horses. IIRC, it seems to have been discovered that Selima is not really 15-c; she’s supposed to be British 21. But according to Bloodlines.net, the true founder of A-4 is Medley Mare No. 2 with circumstantial evidence tying it to Selima.
http://www.bloodlines.net/TB/Families/AmericanFamilies/FamilyA4.htm
I just think it’s awesome that small-time breeders and their “cheap” horse won. I put that in quotes because I do not want to belittle them or the horse-- he’s a beast and clearly was the best in the field. They bred a star on a budget.
Not just California Chrome’s connections, but most of this year’s field was bred on a budget. The sum of most recent advertised stud fees of the sires of the top 3 finishers only comes to $25K! Definitely empowering for the “little guys.” :yes:
Anybody know Chrome’s height?
It gives hope to all of us small time breeders that you don’t have to pay $50,000 or more stud fee to get to the top. Here’s hoping he goes all the way.
I’ll second that jbonifas
I’m so happy that he won. Commanding Curve looked as if he might have overtaken him, so he might be a closer w/ good endurance? If the track was fast could the horses, including California Chrome, have spent themselves and been overtaken by Commanding Curve? I’m not a racing expert by any means so my observation could be totally off. I am, however, a proud owned of an OTTB. ???. I love to see inexpensive but talented horses beat the overpriced horses. ???
Chrome was geared down at the end. He had it in hand. Don’t know if he’d have found more and dug in if challenged, but that’s not a question that was asked of him on Saturday.
[QUOTE=RainyDayRide;7563566]
Anybody know Chrome’s height?[/QUOTE]
No but Perfect Drift towered over him.
[QUOTE=Mara;7564541]
Chrome was geared down at the end.[/QUOTE]
He geared down because his jock stood in the stirrups before the finish line. Thought I was seeing things at the time. With Commanding Curve coming on like a tornado, that was a foolish thing to do and could have cost them the race.
The fellow who writes the Boojum’s Bonanza blog makes much of the fact that this was one of the slowest Derbies in modern history.
He also points out (again) that the Storm Cat sire line is 0 for 44 in the KY Derby.
Nothing to write home about;
I was happy for the budget race team to pull off a win. Reminds me of '03 I think it was when Funny Cide ran/won.
However, there was not a thing outstanding about Chrome’s race. Anyone can see that in the time he ran as well as the huge fact the jockey was whipping him for all he was worth.
A great horse will simply run and the jocky hangs on for the ride. That is just a fact.
I have to respectfully disagree with you on this. I was there and have watched the replay numerous times. I didn’t see him “whipping him for all he was worth.” I saw him pop him a couple times and then just wave the whip along side him.
Personally, I was impressed with what I saw. Chrome looked like he did it easily and by himself. I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do in the Preakness.
He didn’t whip him at all, he waved the whip at him.
[QUOTE=greenleaf;7565183]
Nothing to write home about;
I was happy for the budget race team to pull off a win. Reminds me of '03 I think it was when Funny Cide ran/won.
However, there was not a thing outstanding about Chrome’s race. Anyone can see that in the time he ran as well as the huge fact the jockey was whipping him for all he was worth.
A great horse will simply run and the jocky hangs on for the ride. That is just a fact.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wVBNbmcaAE[/QUOTE]
Some of the most talented horses I’ve ridden won’t do any more than they absolutely have to.
Greenleaf! what race were you watching? I saw a horse settling in third, staying there quietly, then moving up comfortably, with a little necessary kick at the end. A vertical whip up by the head is a whip not too active. :lol:
Kinda defeats the purpose to hit them in the head. 
:lol:
[QUOTE=greenleaf;7565183]
Nothing to write home about;
I was happy for the budget race team to pull off a win. Reminds me of '03 I think it was when Funny Cide ran/won.
However, there was not a thing outstanding about Chrome’s race. Anyone can see that in the time he ran as well as the huge fact the jockey was whipping him for all he was worth.
A great horse will simply run and the jocky hangs on for the ride. That is just a fact.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wVBNbmcaAE[/QUOTE]
I dunno about that. After having watched and rewatched many many times all the confontations between Affirmed and Alydar, I can say that both of those great race horses were urged on with the whip in every meeting.
I also would think that if the California Chrome crew have Triple Crown aspirations, they’re not going to push their colt any faster than they need to to win any single race.
[QUOTE=merrygoround;7565234]
Greenleaf! what race were you watching? I saw a horse settling in third, staying there quietly, then moving up comfortably, with a little necessary kick at the end. A vertical whip up by the head is a whip not too active. :lol:
Kinda defeats the purpose to hit them in the head. :lol:[/QUOTE]
Seriously. After the race, it looked like he didn’t even break a sweat.
Greenleaf, I think you need to watch the replay again. I’m not saying he’s the second coming, but you’re shortchanging him. He wasn’t being whipped for all he was worth. The whip was being waved at him.
As for good racehorses not needing to be shown the whip…well, I’m pretty sure Secretariat got popped a few times in the Derby. 
And he was pretty good, I think.
If you don’t recognize that CC is a special horse you need to watch more horse racing. He has ton of speed that can be used in multiple ways. He’s push button and is very in tune to his rider. He has a tremendous kick when asked, plus he runs straight and his lead changes are very smooth. He has won his last few races easily, with ears pricked. He still hasn’t been asked for all he has.
His Derby may have been slow, but he was only mildly urged and the jockey stood up before the wire. According the outrider he wouldn’t have blown out a match post race, so he wasn’t really tested at all. His SA Derby was the fourth fastest in history, also under mild urging, so I’m not terribly concerned about that final time in the Derby. He’s got just about everything you want to see in a racehorse and I’m very excited to see what he can achieve.
BTW, here is Haskin’s wonderful Derby recap for those who haven’t seen it already.
http://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/horse-racing-steve-haskin/archive/2014/05/05/haskin-s-derby-recap-california-dreamin.aspx
Anytime you have a contest between horses, the jockeys will undoubtedly be using the whip. As to great horses, Secretariat set his Belmont record when he was something like 38 lengths in front. He never stopped running.
Total beast!!!
