California Chrome jockey Victor Espinoza (5) and co-owner Steve Coburn (white hat) celebrate in the winner's circle after winning the 2014 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. / Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

LOUISVILLE - Before Steve and Carolyn Coburn flew to Louisville in anticipation of California Chrome's run in the Kentucky Derby, they packed the usual necessities. They packed their hats and their nice outfits, and then they packed Mrs. Pastures cookies, just like always.

The cookies, made of oat, wheat bran, cane molasses, barley and apple, were not for them; they were for their majestic colt. When California Chrome was a foal - they actually just called him Junior then - Steve Coburn used to bring those cookies to the barn.

They were a bit too big for him then, so Steve would bite into them and break them in half, and then he'd feed them to his horse. It was a simple labor of love.

"To so many people, a horse is a business, but we've grown attached to him," Carolyn Coburn said on Saturday, about an hour after California Chrome had cruised to a Kentucky Derby victory. "He's a part of our family. I know at some point in time, maybe you have to get over that. But we saw him when he was a day old. We watched him grow."

As California Chrome transformed into a dominant racehorse, he always remembered those cookies. They became a part of a tradition. He got cookies on the day before each race and then he got more cookies the day after.

When the Coburns arrived in Louisville on Tuesday, Carolyn Coburn wanted to make sure their horse had had a smooth trip from the West Coast. But Steve Coburn said that was not an option, because when they see him he knows a race is coming the next day, and so a Tuesday visit would have confused him.

"We finally saw him yesterday," Carolyn Coburn said. "He got his cookies and he was a happy boy."

And that was apparent in this race, as the favorite burst to a smooth 1 and ¾-length victory. Afterward, Steve Coburn, who co-owns the horse with his business partner Perry Martin, beamed like he was speaking about his own child. He smiled and teared up and spoke with such pride, and it was indicative of a rare and refreshing connection. For the Coburns, this is so much more than numbers and figures.

As Coburn sat in the media room and watched a looped replay of Saturday's race, he couldn't look away. A reporter asked what he was thinking about.

"Our dream child doing exactly what we thought he could do when he was a baby," he said.

Coburn, who turned 61 on Saturday, still wakes up at 4:30 a.m. most mornings to help run his small company that makes magnetic strips for things like credit cards, driver's licenses and hotel keys. He still operates the press.

As the story goes, he was looking for a tax break a few years ago, and so he looked into buying an airplane as a tax-write-off. But that was a bit too expensive, so he and his wife decided to buy a horse instead.

They acquired an $8,000 mare named Love the Chase and bred her to a stallion named Lucky Pulpit. Three weeks before California Chrome was born, Coburn had a dream about the horse - what it would look like, how it would act. And then there he was, and was exactly what they had expected.

The Coburns' love for this colt is so deep that they've turned down several multimillion-dollar offers, including one $6 million proposition for a 51% stake.

Steve Coburn's dream, clearly, has turned into something more. On Saturday, he said he believed California Chrome would win a Triple Crown. The next stop will be the Preakness Stakes in Baltimore.

But first, there will be one stop at the Churchill Downs barn early Sunday morning.

"He'll get his cookies tomorrow," Coburn said. "That's for damn sure."

Himmelsbach writes for the Courier-Journal.

Copyright 2015

Read the original story: Dream came true for California Chrome co-owner Coburn



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