The Inside Track Perry Martin takes readers on the ride of a lifetime with his personal memoirs about breeding and racing the most successful California-bred in history in new book, California Chrome: Our Story BY LISA GROOTHEDDE
H
ave you ever wondered what it feels like to have a horse win the Kentucky Derby (G1) while carrying your silks? How about the Preakness Stakes (G1)? Or the Dubai World Cup (G1)?
40
With his matinee-idol looks and his athletic ability at the fore, Cal-bred California Chrome became the darling of America’s racing public
ios became a reality when the frst horse whose breeding and racing career he meticulously planned became the international superstar named California Chrome.
CALIFORNIA THOROUGHBRED ❙ January 2022 ❙ www.ctba.com
Martin has written an autobiography chronicling his remarkable journey with this California-bred two-time Horse of the Year that has now been published as a paperback titled “California Chrome: Our Story.”
ANNE M. EBERHARDT
If you’re a Californian, how do you think you would react if your homebred colt—whom you frst saw all damp and spindly legged on the morning he was born—captured the Santa Anita Derby (G1) by daylight in the midst of a six-race win streak, then successfully mastered a new racing surface seven months later to win the venerable Hollywood Derby (G1) on turf? Or, heck, how about watching your horse win the fnal stakes race ever contested at Hollywood Park, on the very night that historic track closed its doors forever after a 75year run? What if your color-bearer managed to retire as the highest-earning racehorse ever to compete in North America, with earnings of more than $14.7 million? Te sport of Toroughbred racing is built for dreamers. But for California Toroughbred Breeders Association member Perry Martin, each of these fantasy scenar-
