Sporting News

California Chrome was almost named Seabisquik

California Chrome is just one victory away from being the first horse to win the triple Crown since 1978 and just the twelfth horse to ever accomplish such feat.

If the horse does win the Belmont Stakes, the name California Chrome will remembered throughout the annals of sports history. 

California Chrome; note the nasal strip (AP Photo)

MORE: Triple Crown winners | Near missesBelmont Stakes challengers

But how did the horse come to be called California Chrome? The answer is more simple than you would think.

It was pulled out of a hat.

Sam Gardner of Fox Sports investigated how the name came to be, and how we almost wound up with Seabisquik.

The naming evolution took place in early 2013 at a restaurant called Brewsters Bar & Grill in Galt, California, about a half-hour south of Sacramento and roughly equidistant from the homes of Chrome’s owners, Steve Coburn of Topaz Lake, Nevada, and Perry Martin of Yuba City, California.

... So it was decided among the group that each person at the table would pick their favorite name and write it on a Post-It note, and they’d go from there. Coburn’s choice was California Chrome, and his wife, Carolyn, picked Lucky at Love. Martin chose Seabisquik, a breakfast-themed play on “Seabiscuit,” and Martin’s wife, Denise, went with Big Chapter.

the waitress at the restaraunt, Allison Simonich, who grew up on a cattle ranch and whose family owns two horses of their own, was tasked with pulling the name out of the hat.

Simonich drew California Chrome first, then Lucky at Love, followed by Big Chapter, and finally, Seabisquik. And it was in that order that Coburn and Martin submitted the names to the Jockey Club for approval.

The naming of thoroughbreds is an interesting science. Some names are decided by tradition, like Seattle Slew, and others, like California Chrome, are chosen by a random drawing.

But in the end, it is just a name, albeit a name that has the potential to go down in history as one of the greatest thoroughbreds of all time.


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