The future is bright for Faversham, the full brother to two time Horse of the Year, California Chrome! Chromies rejoice as today is the 7th birthday of California Chrome and tomorrow, Faversham will race in the California Cup, just like Chrome did before he started down the Road to the Kentucky Derby!
The Road to the Kentucky Derby is long and full of surprises. 25 races are finished. Today, the Hyacinth in Tokyo takes place and tomorrow the Southwest runs at Oaklawn. These KY Derby prep races will continue onward thru mid April. Meanwhile, as the leaderboard changes with every race, there are still talented Thoroughbreds who have yet to enter a prep race, like Faversham whom is getting his practice in at other races. In California Chrome’s third year, he won the California Cup Derby before romping in the San Felipe and Santa Anita Derby to gain his KY Derby points and become a fast favorite to win the KY Derby. A feat which he achieved. Now, Faversham will try to follow in those familial hoofprints. On 2/19/18, Faversham will go for the California Cup!
Currently, Bravazo is on top of the Ky Derby leaderboard with 54 points while the 20th place is held by Hollywood Star with only 5 points. As the road progresses the points will often escalate. The San Felipe Stakes offers 50 points and the Santa Anita Derby offers 100 points to the winner, as well as less points to the top 4 finishers. Either may grant a KY Derby berth. Chrome naturally won both of those prep races in 2014 .
What better birthday present for California Chrome than a win for his brother in the California Cup Derby? It won’t be easy, the field is packed with talent. On Monday, race 8 (on a card of 9) at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, CA, posting at 4 P.M. PST (7 P.M. EST), twelve contenders will face off. This $200,000 stakes is for 3 year-olds either California bred or CA sired. It is a race of 1 and 1/16th miles (8.5 furlongs) on the dirt.
Here are California Cup Derby contenders by post/horse/jockey/trainer/and morning-line odds:
- Violent Ridge/ G. Franco/H. O. Palma/6-1
- Hardboot/T. Baze/M. Dollase/20-1
- Lucky Romano/R. Bejarano/M. Glatt/12-1
- Heck Yeah/M.E. Smith/B. Baffert/9-5
- Faversham/S. Elliott/A. Sherman/5-1
- Intimidate/ C. S. Nakatani/R.B. Hess, Sr./6-1
- Continental Divide/V. Espinoza/J.M. Cassidy/12-1
- FIre When Ready/R. Maragh/R.B. Hess, Jr./20-1
- Black Site/E. A. Smith/W. E. Morey/15-1
- Campaigner/R. Francis/S. Miyadi/10-1
- George From Tahoe/R. Fuentes/J. Bonde/10-1
- Kaleidoscope Kid/S. Gonzalez/R. B. Hess, Jr./30-1
Chromies will be interested to know that both Hardboot and Lucky Romano share the same sire with Faversham and,of course, California Chrome. The late Lucky Pulpit is the sire for all of these fantastic Thoroughbreds. The California Cup Derby is a race not to miss.
In other Chrome news, he has now sired 14 live foals between 1/20 and 2/9/18. 5 are colts and the other 9 are fillies. I hope California Chrome has a very happy birthday today (2/18/18) and many more to follow. Please, check back for more information on the road to the 144th running of the KY Derby and all sorts of other thoroughbred news and adventures.
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