On the first Tuesday in July 2015, a thoroughbred racehorse named California Chrome was walked slowly off a long, white equine transport van and onto the backstretch at Arlington Park racetrack in suburban Chicago. Earlier that day, he had been flown from England, where he had spent the previous three months training. California Chrome did not look healthy; his chestnut coat was dull and spotty, and the skin on his flanks sagged across protruding ribs, with little muscle. His handlers would later estimate that he had lost at least 150 pounds from his 1,100-pound frame in four months. He walked gingerly, as if he were in pain (which, it turns out, he was).
A revived California Chrome, bigger, older, stronger, heads to Breeders Cup as favorite
