California Chrome’s star power keeps growing as he runs Saturday at Santa Anita

About 150 years of racing experience sat at the end of the table of a large and boisterous party at the iconic horse racing haunt in Arcadia called The Derby.

Eddie Delahoussaye, 65, a Hall of Fame jockey, was in town to present the trophies in Friday’s two divisions of the Eddie D. Stakes on Santa Anita’s fall opening day.

Art Sherman, 79, a former jockey now a trainer, was readying for California Chrome’s next race, Saturday’s $300,000 Awesome Again Stakes. Sherman, much like his rock-star horse, prefers being at Los Alamitos. Rather than making the drive from Orange to Los Angeles County, he’s staying at a hotel down the street from Santa Anita.

Then there is Alan Sherman, 47, another former jockey but now 1A to his father’s primary status in the care and handling of the most popular horse in the world.

The question was inevitable: Which of the three, if in their prime, would be the best jockey for California Chrome. The answer was amusingly obvious, a three-way tie.

“Oh, that would be me for sure,’ Alan was first to speak up. “Then, I’d pick Eddie D.�

Delahoussaye was quick to volunteer for the job.

“I would take him back to last and make him come for it,� he said laughing about the horse that is known for either being on the lead or just off it. “I’d change his whole style.�

Later, when the laughter stopped and the memories slowed, Art, a former exercise rider for Swaps, weighed in.

“Absolutely myself,� he said. “I’ve always said I would just love to be on that horse.�

Trainers hate hypothetical questions given the unpredictability of every race, but when you’re king of the racing world you can let down your white and thinning hair once in a while.

Saturday is about as good a day in racing as you’re going to find outside of the Breeders’ Cup, which will be at Santa Anita on Nov. 4-5.

There are five Grade 1 races, including Beholder and Stellar Wind in the Zenyatta Stakes and Klimt against Straight Fire to determine an early Kentucky Derby favorite in the FrontRunner Stakes for 2-year-old colts.

The star of the day will be California Chrome, winner of the 2014 Kentucky Derby and Preakness with purses totaling more than $13 million, the all-time leader in North America. He’s won five in a row, including going wire-to-wire in the highly competitive Pacific Classic at Del Mar last month.

Sherman wears his celebrity with grace, as unpretentious as his usual short-sleeve shirt. Sitting in a restaurant with dishes named for jockeys Mike Smith and Gary Stevens, Sherman is fine having his name on the Los Alamitos menu.

“They call it the Art Sherman Special,� he said. “It’s steak, lobster and shrimp. It’s pretty good too. It’s the most expensive thing on the menu. When I won the San Felipe [at Santa Anita with Chrome as a 3-year-old] it cost me almost $1,300 because I had 25 people and they all ordered the Art Sherman Special. I told them, ‘Why don’t you put me in the salad division?’�

Chrome is well past his salad days. If he hadn’t had a disastrous 4-year-old season, he probably would not be racing today. He ran only twice in 2015, even though he traveled to England and Chicago without ever running.

“He had a bone bruise,� Sherman said. “His feet were bad. When he came back from England he was not the same horse. The horse could never really adapt. You know, we have the same groom and the same people who have been around him his entire racing life and I actually think he was homesick.

“I think if he had ever run in the Royal Ascot you would have never seen him again.�

This year has been nothing short of spectacular. After winning the San Pasqual at Santa Anita, Chrome won two in Dubai, including the Dubai World Cup. Then it was on to Del Mar, where he won a tough race against Dortmund in the San Diego before taking the Pacific Classic.

Chrome’s place in history is cemented as the ultimate underdog story, explaining his worldwide appeal. He was the product of a $2,500 stud fee (Lucky Pulpit) bred to an $8,000 mare (Love The Chase).

“It’s almost a Biblical story where they slew the giant,� Sherman said. “It’s always [Bob] Baffert or it’s always the Sheik that owns the great horses. Now, one finally slips through the cracks. It’s a David and Goliath type of thing.�

Delahoussaye, winner of more than 6,000 races, has no shortage of praise for Chrome.

“The way he runs, I’d put him in the top five of my era,� Delahoussaye said. “You got Secretariat, you got Seattle Slew, you’ve got Spectacular Bid. And John Henry was a great horse and you’d have to put Cigar in there.�

Chrome will be taking on a likely field of six in Saturday’s 1 1/8-mile race. Seven horses are entered, but it’s expected that Baffert will scratch Hoppertunity to run next week in New York.

Sherman’s horse has a bad post position, No. 1, but that’s where he won the Pacific Classic. He’s the 2-5 morning-line favorite. Dortmund, breaking from the No. 2 post, is expected to be his chief rival.

“He knows when he wins,� Sherman said of Chrome. “He gets in the winner’s circle and you can see him look around. I couldn’t even get down to the winner’s circle last time there were so many people. I had to stay on the race track to take the picture, they had no room for him or me.�

It’s a part of success Sherman has learned to accept.

Eddie D. winners

There were so many horses entered in the $100,000 Eddie D Stakes, 6 ½ furlongs down the hill on the new turf course, it had to be run in two divisions. Ambitious Brew, with Mike Smith riding for trainer Martin Jones, won one division by 1 ¾ lengths over Richard’s Boy, paying $13.20 to win.

Holy Lute won the second division over Boozer by 1 ¼ lengths. Boozer had to survive a lengthy inquiry for second over some bumping in the stretch. Holy Lute, ridden by Jamie Therlot for James Cassidy, paid $23.40 to win.