Tim Sullivan | Art Sherman finally smelling the roses

If Art Sherman fails to win the roses Saturday afternoon, he will surely smell them.

The 77-year-old trainer's road to the Kentucky Derby has been paved mostly with pleasure — the dazzling dominance of a three-year-old colt, and the sweet satisfaction of a well-earned windfall landing, at long last, in his lap.

"I always made a living, but right under the radar," Sherman said Wednesday of his racing career before training California Chrome. "He's kind of made me from being 'also-eligible' (to), 'I got in the race.'"

For this, Sherman, a Southern California trainer with a handful of horse, Sherman is grateful, but not giddy. He has seen too much in six decades at the track to let a single spectacular horse change his lifestyle or his self-image, and he carries himself with a leisurely stride and a ready, full-bodied laugh.

If the tightly wound Shug McGaughey won his first Derby last year while doing a persuasive impression of a clenched fist, Art Sherman will saddle the favorite Saturday like a man playing with house money.

He has not come to Churchill Downs seeking closure or validation, but for the thrill of pursuing a prize he first glimpsed as an 18-year-old exercise rider in 1955.

Sherman shared a boxcar with Swaps that spring, traveling cross-country with the eventual Derby winner before ceding the race-day riding responsibilities to jockeyBill Shoemaker. He watched that Derby from the backside, never set foot in the winner's circle, and has since had no closer connection to America's foremost horse race as a rider, or a trainer.

Though he won more than 1,600 races as a jockey, and ranked sixth in wins among trainers in 2007, Art Sherman has spent most of his life on the fringes of fame. Before he was entrusted with California Chrome, Sherman's career highlight might have been posing with then-Vice President Richard Nixon during a Maryland trophy presentation.

Like a lot of the supporting players in sports, Sherman has been consistently competent, but seldom celebrated. Like a lot of "also-eligibles," his problem may not have been a matter of ability so much as opportunity.

"I always thought I was a pretty good jock if I had the horse," Sherman said. "I didn't get too many beat that I thought could win. I just never had the limelight like other guys. ...

"I'm very satisfied with my career. I never made it with big, big horses (but) I won a lot of graded stakes, always won my share, and that's fun. I met a lot of great owners, met a lot of great people. It's hard to really express yourself when you've been in the game for 60 years. I look at all the young people coming up, and I hope they have as good a time as I have."

He has led a life sufficiently appealing that two sons have followed him into training. Steve Sherman, who competes on the Northern California circuit, put in a plug for his father when California Chrome's owners were searching for a Southern California stable. Alan Sherman is his father's assistant.

"Small barn, old-timer, old rules, old school," California Chrome owner Steve Coburn said, ticking off Sherman's selling points. "And each horse is an individual horse, and he takes the time to make sure that horse is ready. It's not like he rushes him in and rushes him out.

"When we sent California Chrome down there, when we saw what Art did with him ... we knew we had the real deal for this colt. This colt is very easy going. Art's kind of easy going."

The combination did not click immediately. California Chrome won two of his first six races as a two-year-old and was coming off successive sixth-place finishes when Sherman saddled him for December's King Glorious Stakes, the final stakes race at Hollywood Park. He announced his ability that day by finishing first in a field of 10, and by 6 ¼ lengths.

California Chrome's three-year-old campaign has included a 5 ½-length victory in the California Cup Derby, a 7 ½-length win in the San Felipe Stakes and a 5 ¼-length romp in the Santa Anita Derby. The chestnut colt has been, on balance, breathtaking.

"To win the Kentucky Derby would put me right there with all the people I respect," Art Sherman said. "I would have a good resume."

Another 77-year-old might be looking for a graceful exit. Art Sherman is looking for his next job.

"Everybody asks me: when do you think you'll ever retire?" he said. "I don't know what else I'd do. I feel very lucky when I get up in the morning and pull on my boots and think of all the people I rode for who are not around anymore and all of my friends that might be looking down on me and saying, 'We know you can do it.'

"It's kind of an exciting part of my life."

Tim Sullivan can be reached at 502-582-4650 by email tsullivan@courier-journal.com and on Twitter @TimSullivan714.