o run him, but I think we would have still

There is an old-fashioned reliability about California Chrome that is taken for granted in this age of speed figures and big-day performances.Put it this way: In a career of 23 races dating to his maiden special weight debut at Hollywood Park on April 26, 2013, California Chrome has never missed a start while under the training and management of Art Sherman and his crew.The only time California Chrome had to bow out of a commitment was at Royal Ascot in June 2015, when he had been removed from the Sherman stable and trained in Newmarket, England. California Chromes scratch from the Prince of Waless Stakes was a humiliating blow for Sherman, whose name was still associated with the champion despite an absence of more than two months from his care.Once California Chrome was returned to the Sherman stable last October, Sherman laid out a campaign for 2016 by the seasons, each season geared toward winning a major prize. The winter aimed for the $10 million Dubai World Cup with a comeback in the San Pasqual at Santa Anita and a minor prep in Dubai. Bulls-eye. The spring was for World Cup recovery, followed by two races during the summer at Del Mar in the San Diego Handicap and the $1 million Pacific Classic. Nailed them both.Now comes the autumn and Shermans two-step to the $6 million Breeders Cup Classic on Nov. 5. Step 1 comes Saturday in the $300,000 Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita, a race the trainer does not take lightly, even though he could if he wanted. Facing basically the same West Coast horses he has tamed three times this year, Sherman was asked if he was torn between letting California Chrome coast to a conservative score or uncork a doozy in hopes of scaring off Breeders Cup competition.I dont know -- what do you think? he replied, keeping his cards close. Im just hoping the race goes. The racing secretary said hed run if he had to.No doubt, Sherman has been blessed with a superior racehorse of intrinsic soundness, robust health, and strong recuperative powers. But the trainer takes nothing for granted.I think weve done a lot to make sure he stays the way he is, Sherman said last weekend, shortly after California Chrome turned in his final work at Los Alamitos for the Awesome Again. The double-wide stall he loves. The attention he gets from all our people. After every race, he gets X-rayed to make sure nothings changed. We take blood all the time to tell us if what we see is the real thing, because the good ones will sometimes fool you, and we dont want something sneaking up on us.The Awesome Again, a 1-1/8-mile race under allowance weight conditions, used to be a handicap called the Goodwood. The name was easy to lose since there was no reason to continue to honor the relationship between the Oak Tree Racing Association and Goodwood Racecourse in England once Oak Tree had been booted from its lease at Santa Anita Park.Oak Tree persists as a charitable entity by sponsoring meets at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton, Calif., so it is out of the big-race business. Goodwood, on the other hand, continues to run the Group 3 Oak Tree Stakes during its Glorious Goodwood meet in late July, further evidence as to why there will always be an England.Everyone appreciates that Awesome Agains 1997 record of six wins in six starts -- including the Stephen Foster, the Whitney, and the Breeders Cup Classic -- should have earned him some kind of recognition beyond a place in the Canadian Hall of Fame. And no one has anything but admiration for Awesome Again as a stallion who boasts sons and daughters like Ghostzapper, Game On Dude, Ginger Punch, Round Pond, Awesome Gem, and Oxbow.We also get it that Frank Stronach raced Awesome Again and stands him at his Adena Springs Farm in Kentucky, and Santa Anita is Stronachs racetrack. Still, the renaming would have gone down a whole lot easier if Awesome Again had run at least once at Santa Anita, which he did not.You could slap the name of Trump University on Saturdays race, and it wouldnt make any difference to California Chrome. The last time he failed to fire his best shot was in the 2014 Pennsylvania Derby, when the size of the purse and the bonuses attached got the better of his people. Given the rare chance of campaigning a mature, 5-year-old stallion, Sherman awakens each day like a man with the weight of the game on his shoulders.Hes so honest, so straightforward, you just want to always do right by him, and for his fans, Sherman said. I think we have, but weve got a couple more challenges to go.Sherman stared off in the direction of California Chrome as he headed back to the stables after a work, then turned to his phone and punched in the clockers number.Thats what I got, Sherman said, and then hung up.The clocker told me Im getting better at the poles, Sherman said with a wink. He even offered me a job. Who knows, I might need one after Chromes gone. But I dont want to think about that just yet. John Elway Womens Jersey . Team physician Dr. Steve Traina performed the surgery Friday. Robinson was injured in a spill underneath the Nuggets basket during the first quarter of Wednesday nights loss to the Charlotte Bobcats. Gary Zimmerman Youth Jersey .C. -- Kemba Walker and the Charlotte Bobcats got off to a fast start, and the Sacramento Kings were never quite able to catch up. http://www.thebroncosstoreonline.com/Youth-Dre-Mont-Jones-Broncos-Jerseys/ . The Lightning are 2-0 so far on a four-game road trip, giving the club five straight wins as the guest and improving Tampas away record this season to 11-8-2. Courtland Sutton Broncos Jersey . The Americans, skipped by John Shuster, seized the advantage in the eighth end by scoring five points for a 7-3 lead. The Czechs pulled two back in the ninth, but Shusters team of third Jeff Isaacson, second Jared Zezel and lead John Landsteiner ended with another point to secure the last Olympic berth on offer. Peyton Manning Broncos Jersey . The 25-year-old Japanese star has officially been posted by his club team, the Rakuten Golden Eagles.Connections of leading Investec Derby contender Midterm are tentatively favouring a trip to Sandown next Friday for his seasonal bow. Plans were in place for the three-year-old, who is as short as 10-1 for the Epsom Classic, to make his 2016 return in a mile-and-a-quarter conditions contest at Newbury on Friday, but the meeting was abandoned due to a waterlogged track.The Sir Michael Stoute-trained son of Galileo could now head to Sandown or Epsom on Wednesday for a tilt at the Investec Derby Trial. Teddy Grimthorpe, racing manager to owner Khalid Abdullah, said: At the moment, he has got two options next week which are at Epsom on Wednesday or the Sandown Classic Trial on Friday.Sir Michael wants to look at both courses and a decision will be partly based on ground conditions. He may well lean towards Friday, but I dont want to mislead anyone that he will definitely run there.He was declared to run at Newbury and Sir Michael was keen to run him, but I think we would have still looked at the ground today and if we had not liked it, he wouldnt have run as there is always a tipping point.We know hhe goes with ease in the ground, but there is always a tipping point and we dont want to run him on bottomless ground on his first start.ddddddddddddAlthough plenty of hype has surrounded Midterm, who is out of multiple Group One-winning mare Midday, since his maiden success, Grimthorpe has stressed he still has a long way to go until he can be compared to his illustrious parents.He added: Sir Michael has been pleased with him. He is not the most exuberant work horse by any means which is nice in a way as if he has got ability, he conserves as much as he can for the track.You have got to remember that he has only won a maiden and he still has a long way to go to match what his parents achieved. Sky Racing Tickets Fast, secure racing tickets: Exclusive racing offers near you Also See: Live results service Full racecards Get Sky Sports ' ' '