THE curtain waves. The lights fade. The credits roll.

California Chrome, America’s best, is about to leave the building.

Making his second-to-last career start, the California-bred upstart enjoyed a race for himself - flitting to a 12-length, track-record setting score in the Winter Challenge last Saturday at Los Alamitos Racecourse, his improbable home for over four seasons.

The Winter Challenge offered $180,000 to 10 horses but it was about one horse as California Chrome circled wide like he was hanging on the tail of a kite before accelerating in his somehow understated but devastating style.

Over 16 wins in 26 starts, the five-year-old son of Lucky Pulpit has mastered an ability to cruise close and kick home, without ever knocking anybody off their chairs.

If you focus on him, he doesn’t look like he’s going fast or doing anything superlative, then you look at his rivals, floundering in place and his talent comes to the fore.

Fans chanted, “Chrome, Chrome, Chrome” as California Chrome won the Winter Challenge, a prep for the Pegasus World Cup, a $12 million sendoff at Gulfstream Park on January 28th. Twelve owners/entities have ponied up $1 million each for a spot in the Pegasus.

California Chrome is going, his syndicate bought an original spot. Arrogate worked a strong seven furlongs recently but trainer Bob Baffert has yet to commit however owner Juddmonte Farm who didn’t have an assigned ticket to the race, have entered into an agreement to purchase Coolmore Stud’s entry slot.

Beyond those two, the race looks like a mishmash of handicappers. With or without Arrogate and the others, it will be the last dance across the stage for California Chrome, who has earned over $14.5 million while winning friends and keeping dreams alive. Owned by the California Chrome LLC, trained by Art Sherman and ridden by Victor Espinoza, the son of unheralded Lucky Pulpit started as a decent California-bred, rose to a Triple Crown contender, travelled the world to win the Dubai World Cup and ride a six-race win streak into this year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic. A half-length loss to Arrogate, who hasn’t committed to the Pegasus but looks probable, put a blip on his season but certainly didn’t change his legacy.

In a world of dreamers, California Chrome is the little guy’s horse - starting with his veteran trainer.

“I was just training my horses and hoping I’d get lucky someday,” Sherman said on his way over for the 2014 Preakness.

He got more than lucky. Racing fans, too.

“They feel like it’s their horse,” Sherman said. “He’s got such a following. You ought to see the mail I got at home - 15, 20 cards and letters and they keep coming. One gal sent me a lucky dollar. I still got it. I’m holding on to that. I won’t spend that. She said, ‘This dollar is for good luck.’ Isn’t that wild? They just love the horse and the story behind it all.”

That was in 2014, Sherman still has that dollar.

In thoroughbred racing, as Christmas comes and New Year’s looms, it’s time to say goodbye to old friends. Doors close and doors open, the cycle never ends.

You hope for good goodbyes, good stories, good endings. Most don’t turn out. Occasionally one does.

Win or lose in the Pegasus, California Chrome is the story of the year.

And the ugly...

Now, that’s the beauty of the sport. As for the ugly…

Masochistic was disqualified from finishing second in the Twinspires Breeders’ Cup Sprint after testing positive for the anabolic steroid, stanozolol.

Trainer Ron Ellis and the California Horse Racing Board reported that Masochistic was administered stanozolol while on the vet’s list in California, 68 days before the Breeders’ Cup.

The recommended withdrawal is 60 days, there were less than 200 picograms (a pictogram is one-trillionth of a gram) of the drug in Masochistic’s blood on raceday, administration of the drug was reported, Ellis has never been suspended, the drug is legal…blah, blah, blah…the findings besmirched the Breeders’ Cup and American racing yet again.