Chrome already paid off investment as dam heads to Keeneland

In what has proven to be one of the most remarkable stud deals in history, American star California Chrome has already repaid the investment made in him by Kentucky’s Taylor Made Farm and could bank millions more before he ever covers a mare.

A week after California Chrome’s brilliant victory in the $1 million Pacific Classic Stakes at Del Mar, Taylor Made vice president Frank Taylor revealed that the five-year-old’s earnings of $6,930,000 from five races this year, all wins, easily supersedes what the farm paid in 2015 for a 30 per cent share in the son of Lucky Pulpit.

“Yes, he’s paid for himself,” said Taylor, who has indicated he cannot reveal the exact amount of the investment under terms of the deal made last summer. “I’ve never seen anything like it - it’s been an absolute dream. He’s just a great horse.”