Pennsylvania Derby doesn't follow script for California Chrome

The crowd came out to Parx Racing to see a star on Saturday in the 35th running of the Pennsylvania Derby, and California Chrome looked perfect for the role of a Hollywood hero as he walked regally around the paddock, accepted Victor Espinoza onto his back, and stepped onto the track to play his part.

And then they ran the race.

Someone messed with the script, just as they had in June at the Belmont Stakes, when Chrome wasn't able to parlay wins in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes into Triple Crown immortality. In fact, it was almost the same story.

Chrome got trapped on the rail behind and inside of two speed horses that decided to slow down and keep him there. It turned out to be a good strategy as Chrome chafed in frustration, and Bayern, who finished 21 lengths behind Chrome in the Preakness, pulled away in the home stretch to an easy win.

It was the first time a Kentucky Derby winner had run at the old track in Bensalem and more than 16,000 came out to take in the sight as summer delivered a final kiss with a perfect day. The fans believed in California Chrome, at least to the extent they thought they could make money on him. He was bet down to slightly less than even money, but an odds-on favorite still has to run the race.

"I knew I was in trouble as soon as I hit the first turn," Espinoza said. "The speed horses really slowed down in front of me. I was blocked. I couldn't do anything about it. I didn't want to override him."

It's possible the race was lost for Chrome at Monday's draw, when he was assigned the inside post position and would be faced with a difficult decision - either go for the lead right away or tuck in behind Bayern and C.J.'s Awesome and hope for an opening.

"I thought, 'If I go we'll be smoking in front,' so I just decided to leave him alone," Espinoza said. "Sometimes, it's out of my hands, and we'll go for the next one."

The next one is the Breeders' Cup Classic, and trainer Art Sherman said nothing that happened Saturday has changed his mind about that. It could be argued that California Chrome was simply running the Pennsylvania Derby as a well-timed tune-up for that $5 million race - one that might crown the thoroughbred horse of the year - and what took place was a useful workout and nothing more. Chrome hadn't been in a race for 105 days, taking a full five-week vacation after the Belmont before even getting back into training.

"I'm not making any excuses. He was there and didn't go. But in the long run this race will do him a hell of a lot of good," Sherman said. "As long as he comes back good and sound, I'll be happy."

Sherman picked up a $100,000 bonus from Parx just for running the race, as did the ownership team of Steve Coburn and Perry Martin. That bonus setup was put in place to lure the winners of the Triple Crown races, as well as the winners of the Haskell Invitational and Travers Stakes. It is a system designed to get the stars in the door, and it worked great this year for Parx, which nearly doubled its betting handle for the Derby card compared with that of a year ago.

Everything went fine, with the exception of the biggest star's performance, but a lot of that was due to Bayern, who enjoyed an untroubled trip and exploded away from the dawdling early pace to set a track record for the 11/8-mile distance.

"Bayern was just cruising on the lead, and you're not going to beat a horse like him when he can open up on the field. You've got to hook him to beat him," Sherman said. "We might not have outrun him, I don't know. I know that getting this race under his belt, he'll be a lot tougher next time he runs."

Espinoza unsaddled the horse, wiped the dirt from his face, and weighed in before conferring with Sherman in the paddock while California Chrome was led back to the barn for a bath and some dinner. The rider and the former rider both knew the story before they deconstructed it together. It just didn't set up for them this time.

"It was just unlucky," Espinoza said, adding a shrug. "It was one of those things."

The crowd lingered for the last race and then filed out. They had come to see history, a Kentucky Derby winner at humble Parx Racing, née Philadelphia Park, and history broke from the gate right on time. After that, horse racing took over.

Art Sherman, 74 years old and hoping the horse of his career can come back, stuck his hands in his pants pockets and scuffed at the wood chip surface of the paddock.

"We'll fight another day," he said. "He's a good horse."

@bobfordsports