California Chrome and Arrogate really do make this race a Classic

You’ve seen the scenario many times, the veteran nearing the end of a career going up against the youngster with unlimited potential.

In the movies, youth wins the fight, but age wins your heart.

Yeah, that’s certainly possible.

In fact, California Chrome could break from the gate, pull over to the side, grab a lawn chair and start reading the Daily Racing Form and he would still receive the most cheers and undying adulation from the racing fans.

Chrome, running in Saturday’s $6-million Breeders’ Cup Classic in what is expected to be his penultimate race before retirement, is the world’s most popular horse, plain and simple. Earlier this year he set the record for most earnings by a North American horse, almost $13.5 million.

“I’d sure like to see him go out a winner,” said Art Sherman, his 79-year-old trainer. “He’s done just about everything a horse could do. Should he win the Breeders’ Cup, it would really be a feather in his hat. It looks like a great resume for a stud going up for his first year as a sire.”

The spoiler in this case is a lightly raced 3-year-old named Arrogate, whose track-record 13½-length win in a highly competitive Travers Stakes elevated him into the ultra-stratosphere as far as expectations. Best part, Juddmonte Farms plans to run him next year as a 4-year-old.

If Arrogate wins, it’s almost as if you can expect to see the passing of the torch in slow-motion replays with a syrupy Vangelis tune in the background.

“We don’t know how good Arrogate is,” trainer Bob Baffert said. “In everybody’s mind, they are asking ‘How good is this horse? Is he the next Secretariat? Is he the super horse?’

“What he did at the Travers is pretty superhorse-ish. He’s got to run that race back if he’s got a chance of beating Chrome.”

Chrome’s popularity is tied to him being the ultimate underdog story. He’s a Cal-bred, the result of a $7,500 breeding of Lucky Pulpit and Love The Chase. Add in that a previous part-owner publicly excoriated the Triple Crown system when Chrome lost the Belmont (he no longer owns part of the horse) and you have the color of a Central California reality show.

Things have settled down since Taylor Made, where California Chrome will go to stud, and Perry Martin have seized full control of the horse, although Martin’s not shy about having some fun when he floated the idea of Chrome running for president.

“I think the two major candidates between them don’t have one good leg to stand on and … we’ve got four,” Martin said after Chrome won the Awesome Again last month. “I think this will be a much improved country if we can have Chromyism rather than cronyism.”

There is no animosity between the two camps.

“The Chrome guys are just having fun,” Baffert said. “How can you root against a guy like Art Sherman? You can’t. He’s the nicest man and to get a horse like that … he is just enjoying every minute of it.

“I’ve been watching that horse train and we better tie it on. He’s going to bring it. They’ve done a tremendous job. I just hope my horse runs his race and we’ll know if he is this super horse.”

Most of the attention in the mile-and-a-quarter Classic is on those two horses, but there are eight others, a few who have a chance.

Frosted won the Metropolitan Mile in June by 14 ¼ lengths.

Effinex finished second behind American Pharoah in last year’s Classic.

Melatonin is undefeated in four tries at Santa Anita, including winning the Santa Anita Handicap.

The race should be blazing fast with a lot of early speed, and the horse that can figure out what too fast is all about and decides to rate should be positioned well at the finish.

That is unless Chrome is the same Chrome we’ve seen for six races this year.

Or unless Arrogate can turn in another, as Baffert put it, “superhorse-ish” race.

They don’t call this the Classic for nothing.

john.cherwa@latimes.com

Follow John Cherwa on Twitter @jcherwa