had run. He was assigned the number 1 post position and had to wait for all the other horses to load. He became anxious, reared in the gate, was last out, struggled throughout the race, and again finished sixth. Sherman's assessment of California Chrome's poor performances was that he was still growing and learning how to be a racehorse. But several things began to change. In the fall of 2013, Alberto's younger brother, Willie Delgado, an experienced rider and trainer whose career in Maryland was in the doldrums, moved to California and within a couple of months became the horse's morning exercise rider. At roughly the same time, Alberto was taken off the horse as jockey. In December, California Chrome began wearing a new type of horseshoe. He had developed low heels, and his farrier, Judd Fisher, found a particular style of glued-on horseshoe with a durable, hard, rim pad that raised a horse's heels was suitable for fixing the problem. Instead of gluing it on, Fisher custom-drilled holes into the shoe so it could be nailed to the horse's feet in the manner of a traditional metal shoe. According to Fisher, nailing on the shoes raised the soles of the horse's feet a little bit farther off the ground. It may have been a contributing factor to California Chrome's subsequent series of wins. Aside from that issue, Sherman described the horse's hooves as generally healthy. Hollywood Park hosted California Chrome's final race of 2013, the King Glorious Stakes on December 22. He had a lighter impost of , a shorter distance of seven furlongs, and a new jockey, Victor Espinoza. California Chrome won the race by lengths, becoming the final stakes winner at Hollywood Park Racetrack, which held its last races that day. Sherman was pleased with Espinoza's riding, and Espinoza was impressed in turn with California Chrome. Alan Sherman later said that it was after this race that he began to think that California Chrome could be a Kentucky Derby contender. 2014: Three-year-old season California Chrome began 2014 with the California Cup Derby on January 25. Espinoza returned as his jockey. California Chrome was slow coming out of the gate but quickly moved up to third, took the lead coming into the homestretch, and won by lengths. Sherman noted that it was the second consecutive race where the horse pulled clear and won by a decisive margin, stating,