How California Chrome’s Kentucky Derby win changed his trainer’s life and career

SAN DIEGO — Now came time for the racehorse and the trainer to attempt a reunion with the Pacific Ocean between them. Reunion would have to come by FaceTime, from Japan to California. It would come last September, and it would require the indispensable help of a “Chromie,” that term for fans of California Chrome, the magical horse of proletariat breeding who won the Kentucky Derby 10 years ago, then sprinkled fine mirth across the Triple Crown until the Belmont Stakes proved one test too far.