Sports

Who Won the Preakness 2014?

The horse's owner likened him to Seabiscuit.

California Chrome claimed the second jewel of theΒ Triple Crown Saturday with a win at the Preakness.

The 3-year-old horse was "like Seabiscuit," co-owner Steve Coburn told CNN, asΒ "the people's horse," rising to a champion fromΒ underdog status.

Coburn, of Nevada, and the thoroughbred'sΒ other owner Perry Martin ofΒ California refer to themselves as regular people. Coburn works for a company that makes magnetic strips for credit cards andΒ hotel keys, according toΒ USA Today, while Martin and his wife own a laboratory for materials testing in Sacramento.

"We’re just everyday people," Coburn told WNST radio after the Preakness. "We go to work every day."

The duo support theirΒ horse in a joint ventureΒ they callΒ DAP Racingβ€”the acronym stands for "Dumb Ass Partners."Β 

The partnership paid off when their $10,000 horseΒ beat others that cost millionsΒ in the May 3Β Kentucky Derby. In that race, California Chrome wonΒ a $1.24 million prize, and he added another $900,000Β to his name after Saturday's PreaknessΒ at Pimlico, according to Bleacher Report.

Favored 3-5 at the start of Preakness, California ChromeΒ ran the 1 and 3/16 mile race in 1:54 4/5,Β USA TodayΒ reported.Β He finished a length and three-quarters ahead of the second-place finisher, according to theΒ New York Times, which reported California ChromeΒ and jockey Victor EspinozaΒ "looked as if they had been launched from a slingshot" on the final leg of the race.
Ride on Curlin came in second with Social Inclusion third, according toΒ Bleacher Report.

If he goes on to win the Belmont, California ChromeΒ will be the first Triple Crown winner since 1978, according to ESPN, which reported Affirmed was the last to have bragging rights.

The Belmont Stakes, the longest of the three races in the Triple Crown at 1.5 miles, will take place June 7 in New York.

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