California Chrome | Horse Racing Free Tips

Cilla Needs ‘To Answer The Seven-Furlong Question’ In Raven Run

The only time P. Dale Ladner's Cilla ran at Keeneland, she finished sixth as a 62-1 shot in the Beaumont (G3) Presented by Keeneland Select run at seven furlongs, 184 feet during this year's Spring Meet in April. Her price figures to be much lower Saturday when she goes postward in the 23rd running of the $250,000 Lexus Raven Run (G2) for 3-year-old fillies going 7 furlongs on the main track.

“I think the light bulb went on after the Beaumont,” said trainer Brett Brinkman, who co-bred Cilla with Ladner. “She was not a very confident filly early on, but we gave her some time, and I think maturity has played a big part for her mentally and physically.”

Cilla, a Louisiana-bred daughter of California Chrome, received a short vacation following the Beaumont and came back to win three consecutive races highlighted by a victory in the 6-furlong Prioress (G2) at Saratoga on Sept. 4.

“We didn't really focus on this (Lexus Raven Run) because she went through another growth spurt,” Brinkman said of the filly, who arrived at Keeneland Tuesday afternoon. “We were going to wait to go to Fair Grounds for Louisiana Champions Day (Dec. 11), but Mr. Ladner and I started talking about it and she needs to answer the seven-furlong question. The only other option was to run against older horses at Churchill Downs going 6 furlongs (in the $300,000 Dream Supreme-L on Nov. 13).

“Most of the big races for fillies and mares next year are seven-eighths, so this is the time to answer that question.”

Tyler Gaffalione, who was aboard for the first time in the Prioress victory, retains the mount Saturday.

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Cilla, Souper Sensational Renew Rivalry In Raven Run

P. Dale Ladner's Cilla and Live Oak Plantation's Souper Sensational, who finished a half-length apart in last month's Prioress (G2) at Saratoga, headline a field of 13 3-year-old fillies entered Wednesday for Saturday's 23rd running of the $250,000 Lexus Raven Run (G2) going 7 furlongs on the main track at Keeneland.

The Lexus Raven Run is scheduled as the ninth race on Saturday's 10-race program with a 5:16 p.m. ET post time. First post Saturday is 1 p.m.

Trained by Brett Brinkman, Cilla returned Tuesday afternoon to Keeneland, where she finished sixth as a 62-1 shot in the Beaumont (G3) Presented by Keeneland Select. Since then, the Louisiana-bred daughter of California Chrome has won three consecutive races highlighted by the Prioress victory.

Tyler Gaffalione will have the mount Saturday and break from post position seven.

Souper Sensational, winner of the Victory Ride (G3) at Belmont Park who has placed in three graded stakes, was runner-up in the Grade 1 Test prior to her run in the Prioress. Trained by Mark Casse, Souper Sensational will exit post position three and be ridden by Ricardo Santana Jr.

Another Grade 2 winner in the field is Juddmonte's homebred Obligatory.

Trained by Bill Mott, Obligatory won the Eight Belles (G2) on April 30 at Churchill Downs going 7 furlongs. Runner-up in the Cotillion (G1) at Parx in her most recent start, Obligatory drew post 13 and will be ridden by Florent Geroux.

The field for the Lexus Raven Run, with riders and weights from the inside, is:

Shalimar Gardens (Rafael Bejarano, 118 pounds)
Joy's Rocket (Julien Leparoux, 118)
Souper Sensational (Santana Jr., 118)
Minute Waltz (Martin Garcia, 118)
Strong Silent (Corey Lanerie, 118)
Feeling Mischief (Mitchell Murrill, 118)
Cilla (Gaffalione, 120)
Caramel Swirl (Junior Alvarado, 118)
Zainalarab (John Velazquez, 118)
Someone Said So (Adam Beschizza, 118)
Miss Speedy (Brian Hernandez Jr., 118)
Just Read It (Gerardo Corrales, 118)
Obligatory (Florent Geroux, 120)

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Bloodlines: How California Chrome’s Successful U.S. Runners Project For His Stud Career In Japan

In mid-November two years ago, the JS Company of Japan bought one of the most popular American racehorses of the past 20 years, Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner California Chrome (by Lucky Pulpit), and exported him to stand at Arrow Stud on the northern island of Hokkaido.

At the time of purchase, Keisuke Onishi of the JS Company noted that several of the young stallion's first-crop yearlings had sold well to buyers from Japan (four of the six highest-priced lots, in fact). Other factors that made the chestnut champion a horse of interest for Japanese breeders include the fact that California Chrome was a sound horse who raced effectively from age two through six (although the horse made only a single start in 2017 in the inaugural Pegasus), winning seven G1 races and $14.8 million.

In addition to soundness and high racing class, California Chrome is an outcross to the prevailing lines in Japan, especially that of Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Sunday Silence (Halo) and his sons Deep Impact, Heart's Cry, and Stay Gold. California Chrome does have both Mr. Prospector 3×4 and Northern Dancer 4×5, but those will be a generation further back in the younger stallion's foals.

So, as an attractive stallion for Japan, California Chrome presented racing class of a high order, physical quality and soundness over a lengthy career, and a pedigree open to easy matching with the prevailing lines in the Japanese broodmare population. Furthermore, nothing was known about the racing potential of his progeny, except what they looked like.

When the JS Company bought California Chrome, the horse had completed his third season at stud at Taylor Made Farm in Kentucky, and his first-crop were only yearlings. The chestnut champion arrived in Japan on Jan. 7, 2020, spent his time in quarantine, and then came to Arrow Stud on Jan. 29 last year. On the basis of race record and physique, California Chrome was greeted with enthusiasm from breeders in Japan, who sent him a large book of quality mares.

Now, the horse's first crop in the States is three, and according to Jockey Club statistics, there are 104 foals from the first crop by California Chrome, 93 current 2-year-olds of 2021, and 96 yearlings from the sire's last Kentucky crop.

From the first crop, California Chrome has four stakes horses, led by Cilla, who became her sire's first stakes winner with a victory in the Blue Sparkler Stakes at Monmouth Park on July 10, running 5 1/2 furlongs in 1:03.07, and another filly by the sire, Decade, was third in the race.

Cilla followed up that show of speed with victory in the Grade 2 Prioress Stakes at Saratoga on Sept. 4, becoming the first graded winner for California Chrome.

Scarcely more than a month later, California Angel, a 2-year-old from the stallion's second crop, became his second graded stakes winner on Oct. 13 with a win in the G2 Jessamine Stakes at Keeneland.

The latest graded stakes winner contributes two points of interest that offer hope for breeders in Japan that the stallion may be better suited to their condition than to those here in American. First, California Angel won her race on turf, which is the primary racing surface in Japan and the surface over which nearly all the important races are conducted, and also, she won her third outing going a mile and a sixteenth.

California Chrome himself won the G1 Hollywood Derby on turf, as well as racing effectively on all weather surfaces when called to do so. That he has sired a good winner on turf is a point in the right direction for breeders and owners in Japan.

In addition, California Chrome physically is a type that should fit well with the training and racing environment in Japan, with an emphasis on high fitness and racing a distance. The trainers there are historically known for their enthusiastic training methods, believing that their stock should be hard and fit for any amount of racing activity.

And Onishi commented that California Chrome was an average horse in build, not especially large or heavy, but tough in training and determined in his racing. Those are insightful comments because the American commercial market wants young horses that are big, strongly muscled, and rather hefty. These horses appear likely to have speed and early maturity, which are important in any sort of racing, but they are not the principal characteristics sought in Japan.

There, many of the good races are at 10, 12, or 14 furlongs (or their equivalents in meters), and as a result, horses with better balance and efficiency of motion are at a greater advantage there than in most of American racing. These differences will not guarantee that California Chrome will become a great sire in Japan, but his stock should get a fair trial over distances and conditions that should suit their physical aptitudes.

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Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: Everything Going To Plan For Leonard And California Angel

Oct. 13, 2021 is a day that will likely live forever in the memory of trainer George Leonard III.

Standing railside at Keeneland on a balmy fall afternoon, Leonard could hardly believe his luck when 2-year-old trainee California Angel edged her competition by a head in the final strides of the Grade 2 Jessamine Stakes. The hard-fought victory was the first graded stakes and a long-awaited moment for the lifelong horseman, coming a full 30 years after he took out his training license.

“The race was awesome,” said Leonard. “It was the race of a lifetime. I played that race over 1,000 times in my mind and it came out just the way I wrote it up. I was leaning and leaning and leaning yelling, 'Hurry, hurry, hurry!' while she was running, but it was so exciting. The last part was just unbelievable to see her get there in time. It was a lot of relief. I was extremely happy, and things just turned out great. I couldn't ask for any better.”

With the Jessamine win, Leonard will have to reconsider any fall travel plans on his calendar. The final domestic race for the Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In” Challenge Series, the Jessamine provides California Angel with an automatic berth in the G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf Nov. 5 at Del Mar.

A trip to the World Championships has, until now, seemed more of a pipe dream than a realistic prospect for Leonard, who began his career under his father, trainer George Leonard, Jr., in his home state of Louisiana.

“I've been in horses my whole life, my father was also a trainer, but he had a job, so we just had weekends,” said Leonard. “I went to school and before and after I would help with horses. We would race on the weekend at Delta Downs and in area tracks in Louisiana.”

For a large portion of his solo career, Leonard has been based out of Indiana, where he now keeps a 19-horse stable. While he has won several minor stakes races, he tends to keep his horses close to home, running primarily in Indiana and at Keeneland, Kentucky Downs, Churchill Downs, and other local venues.

But with her hard-running style and overall class, California Angel is a different beast from the other horses in Leonard's barn.

A striking chestnut — like her sire and Horse of the Year, California Chrome — California Angel first appeared on Leonard's radar in June when he attended the Ocala Breeders' Sales June 2-Year-Olds in Training and Horses of Racing Age Sale. On this particular trip to Central Florida, Leonard was looking to buy a horse for owner and friend Chris Walsh and was immediately taken with California Angel's demeanor and workman-like attitude.

California Angel (California Chrome) wins the Jessamine Stakes (G2) at Keeneland on 10.13.21. Rafael Bejarano up, George Leonard III trainer, Chris Walsh owner.

“I liked her athleticism and the way she walked and how she was made,” said Leonard. “She looked like she had a lot of potential. She's a sleek, muscular filly, not overweight but with really strong muscle and a good way of moving. I just really liked her. I also liked her eye. She had a very smart eye and she just impressed me. I was glad to get her, I just had no idea that she would be as good as she turned out to be.”

Bred in Kentucky by Irish National Stud out of the winning Tiz Wonderful mare Sea Mona, Leonard purchased the filly at OBS for $5,500 from the Little Farm Equine consignment.

Sent out for her debut Sept. 8 at Kentucky Downs, California Angel broke her maiden by 2 3/4 lengths going one mile on the turf. And it was that performance that planted the Jessamine Stakes seed in Leonard's brain that maybe this new filly had a bit more in the tank than his previous trainees.

“After she broke her maiden at Kentucky Downs, I knew she had done it with problems — a bad start. But for her to circle that field and do what she did I thought she was special,” said Leonard. “Looking forward I saw the Jessamine so I decided that we would aim for that. I gave her a race at Churchill Downs [a Sept. 30 allowance optional claiming race where she finished third] to give her a little experience and get some good work. From that I wanted to come back and put her in the Jessamine if everything went according to plan. We got lucky that it all worked out.

“Before the race even comes up there are so many factors that can happen that will get you beat. Everything has to go right for you to win. Then to win the Jessamine, it was a surreal feeling. But that's been the thing with her from the time we bought her. Everything has gone according to plan. We haven't had any bumps in the road which is why it has been so special. It's so unusual for that to happen. Two-year-olds usually come down with a cold or other issues, but she's just been a dream.”

With less than a month to go before the World Championships, a trip to the West Coast for California Angel, Leonard, and Walsh looms ahead. But while Leonard may have butterflies at the very idea of running Nov. 5, he's more than confident that his filly can handle the trip across the country and around the California track.

“We talked about it before thinking, 'Well, if we go to California …' and now it's here,” said Leonard. “It's really happening. It's all come to fruition. It's all in front of us so we have to make a lot of things happen. But [California Angel] is all business. I've never had a 2-year-old as professional as she is. I can haul her anywhere. She very seldom does anything strange. She has a very good personality. What you look for in a horse, she has it. You would think she's five or six. I have older horses that when I haul them, they're so nervous, but once you put in her the trailer she's as comfortable as she would be in her own stall.”

After more than three decades watching the Breeders' Cup from the sidelines, Leonard is more than ready to fly West with California Angel— grateful for the filly who has blessed her connections with new opportunities and the chance to compete on the world stage.

“It's hard to believe that I have a horse in the Breeders' Cup,” said Leonard. “I watch the Breeders' Cup every year, but I don't have that caliber of horse. I don't have four or five babies aimed at the Breeders' Cup like others do. It's unreal for me, but it's such a good place to be in.”

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