and General a Rod also entered; they were the only other horses besides California Chrome to contest all three legs of the Triple Crown. Four entries had run in Kentucky Derby but skipped the Preakness, and there were four "New Shooters" who had not run in either of the previous Triple Crown races, including Tonalist and Matterhorn, who each wound up playing a major role in the race. Anticipating the possibility of a Triple Crown champion, several people connected to the last three Triple Crown winners came to the Belmont, including 92-year-old Penny Chenery, owner of Secretariat; Patrice Wolfson, who co-owned Affirmed; and some of Seattle Slew's connections—trainer Billy Turner and co-owner Jim Hill. The jockeys of the three past Triple Crown winners, Steve Cauthen, Jean Cruguet, and Ron Turcotte, also attended. Cauthen, jockey of Affirmed, stated, "This horse has got a great chance of pulling it off," but added, "you never know, that's why they have to run the race." On race day California Chrome did not break boldly. Espinoza later explained something felt "off" and he held the horse back a bit instead of going to the lead. When asked to move to the front, the horse did not unleash his usual burst of speed. Immediately following the race, Espinoza said "He was just a little bit empty today". Tonalist won the race, and California Chrome finished fourth in a dead heat with Wicked Strong. Initial post-race analysts criticized Espinoza for not taking the horse to the front early on, but noticed that California Chrome had had some blood on his right front heel. After the race, review of photos taken at the start showed that the horse next to him, Matterhorn, moved too far to the left and stepped on California Chrome's heel as both horses broke from the gate. As a result, California Chrome had run the race with a "chunk" of tissue taken out of his right front heel and a small cut on his tendon. The tendon injury was superficial, but the heel injury may have been a factor in his loss. Sherman explained that he knew that something was not right when he saw the horse throw his head up in the homestretch, and speculated later that the sand and dirt of the racetrack caused pain in the open wound. The following day, Sherman assured the press that both injuries would heal. Coburn