Pimlico relief after Churchill downer
BALTIMORE -- When California Chrome's improbable journey reached Pimlico Race Course for Saturday's Preakness Stakes, two notable people from his entourage were missing.
Perry and Denise Martin, who, with Steve and Carolyn Coburn, own the colt who won the Kentucky Derby on May 3, skipped the Preakness, the second leg of the Triple Crown series.
The Martins had booked their trip to Baltimore but canceled at the last minute to stay home in Yuba City, California. They own a laboratory in Sacramento that tests safety equipment like air bags and landing gear, and, the Coburns said, the Martins have fallen behind in their work because of California Chrome's success, which continued with a Preakness win.
"When he won the San Felipe, we were getting a lot of press," Carolyn Coburn said. "And then he won the Santa Anita Derby, and we were getting more press. So it was like a month before the Derby, and we had people coming and calling, and he has a business."
The Martins do not enjoy the spotlight as much as the Coburns do. Steve Coburn called himself and Perry Martin the odd couple because "Perry is very quiet, and I'll talk to anybody."
Carolyn Coburn also said Thursday their co-owners did not have a pleasant experience with the organizers at Churchill Downs. The Martins picked up Perry's 83-year-old mother, Katherine, from a nursing facility in Michigan and drove her to Louisville for the Derby.
"Churchill did not go out of their way to get her to where she needed to be and to assist us," Carolyn Coburn said of Katherine Martin, who was in a wheelchair. "Steve and Perry did everything, got her in her seat, then we had to get her to the rail so she could watch the race, then get her to the winner's circle."
Before the Derby, Ron Turcotte, who rode Secretariat to the Triple Crown in 1973 and was paralyzed in a riding accident in 1978, said he had been denied an accessible parking space at Churchill Downs for the 2013 race.
He did not attend the Derby this year because, he said, "I didn't want to go through the hassle again."
After the race, Steve said on live television that Churchill could take a lesson from Pimlico's hospitality. He then elaborated in the news conference.
"The hospitality we received at Churchill Downs wasn't very good," Coburn said. "It was a bad day for my partner and his family."
He added about Perry and Baltimore: "He's missing out on a lot of fun. He really, really is."
John Asher, a spokesman from Churchill, said about the owners' complaints: "We're disappointed the overall experience for the owners of California Chrome apparently did not measure up to the stellar performance of their horse in the Kentucky Derby."
He continued, "We would certainly look forward to discussing with them any issues stemming from their Derby experience," and he wished California Chrome and his team the best in their pursuit of the Triple Crown.
Carolyn Coburn said the Martins watched the Preakness at an undisclosed site and planned to have dinner with their two children afterward.
She said there were no fissures among the owners.
"They are wonderful partners," Carolyn Coburn said. "We couldn't ask for better partners. We're a team, and we will continue to be that way."
'Ultimate' thrill
Art Sherman thought nothing could be better than winning the Kentucky Derby.
Then came the Preakness, when California Chrome proved just how good a horse he can be when pressed for the lead.
And now, Sherman needs only a victory at the Belmont on June 7 to achieve every trainer's dream: winning the Triple Crown.
"It would be the ultimate in my career," the 77-year-old said Saturday evening.
"I've been in the game 60 years," Sherman said. "Triple Crown winner? If you would have said that to me at the beginning of the year, I would have said, 'What, are you crazy?' And now that I'm getting closer, I'm elated."
Sherman operated in relative obscurity before the Derby. Now the diminutive trainer stands out in a crowd.
"I'm kind of getting used to it," he said. "After I won the Kentucky Derby, I said, 'Wow, all of a sudden I feel like Willie Nelson,' the old rock star coming through the airport."
Still, it's been a whirlwind.
"Sometimes I need to take my little siesta for about an hour," he said. "I just call it charging my battery a little bit."
Second to one
Unsatisfied with the rides of some of Ride On Curlin's former jockeys, trainer Billy Gowan said he simply wanted his colt to get a fighting chance in the Preakness.
Jockey Jose Rosario gave him just that, recovering from a slow start to make his move down the stretch before finishing second, 1½ lengths behind California Chrome.
"I thought it was awesome," Gowan said. "California Chrome ran a great race and he's a great horse. My horse ran a great race. He was in a good spot down the back. Joel said he got shut off for a second, but he came running in the stretch and gave me a heck of a thrill."
It was a vast improvement from Ride On Curlin's 11th-place finish in the Kentucky Derby.
Gowan said he plans to send the horse to the Belmont, provided the colt comes out of this race in good shape.
Attendance record
Saturday's attendance of 123,469 set a Preakness record, eclipsing the previous mark of 121,309 set in 2012.
The card's overall handle, $83,786,363, was the sixth largest in history, and the Preakness handle of $53,655,673 ranking eighth all time.
Chuckas speaks out
Tom Chuckas, president and CEO of the Maryland Jockey Club, wants to see a change in the scheduling of the Triple Crown races.
The current schedule calls for a two-week gap between the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, followed by a three-week break before the Belmont.
Chuckas wants to see the Derby held on the first Saturday in May, the Preakness on the first Saturday of June and the Belmont on the first Saturday of July.
"I'm not anti-tradition, but the game's changed," Chuckas said. "The breeding's changed and more importantly, the trainers' philosophy has changed."
Only three horses from the Derby came to Pimlico for the Preakness and only 10 of a maximum 14 entrants competed on Saturday.
"We haven't had any conversations with Churchill (Downs), we haven't had any conversations with Belmont. I don't know what their position is," he said. "But we intend to at some point after the Triple Crown season take a hard look at it. You're going to have mixed opinions. The traditionalist will say no. But I don't want to go the way of the dinosaur and go extinct."
Female trouble
This was the first Preakness with a filly at the starting gate, a female jockey and a female trainer.
None of them fared well.
Ria Antonia finished last in the 10-horse field.
Rosie Napravnik, who rode Bayern, came in second-to-last.
And Kid Cruz, who was saddled by trainer Linda Rice, took eighth.
Sports on 05/18/2014