"It's like the light bulb has gone on." California Chrome's first graded stakes win was the March 8 Grade II San Felipe Stakes. Espinoza tried a different riding tactic and let the horse go to the lead right out of the gate. California Chrome led most of the way, and after Espinoza gave him one tap on the shoulder with the whip, the horse pulled away from the field at the top of the homestretch and won by lengths. Alan Sherman said, "My jaw dropped", while Art Sherman joked, "I'm glad I'm training at Los Alamitos, because he looked like a 350 [yard] horse coming out of the gate"; a reference to Quarter Horse racing sprint distances. Espinoza remarked, "I wanted to let him enjoy his race," later adding, "I wanted to see if he [could] go wire to wire ... that was the day I found out how much he loves to run." The San Felipe was California Chrome's first win in a race open to all three-year-olds, not just California-breds, and earned him 50 points in the Road to the Kentucky Derby system. California Chrome's first Grade I win was the Santa Anita Derby on April 8. California Chrome was at the front of the field by the quarter pole and went on to win the $1 million race by lengths. Prior to the race, his owners had turned down a $6 million offer for a 51% controlling interest in the colt that would have mandated putting the horse with a different trainer. Coburn later explained, "This isn't about the money, this is about the dream." California Chrome's time of 1:47.52 earned him a Beyer Speed Figure of 107, the fastest for any horse in the Road to the Kentucky Derby's final prep races of 2014. It was also the second fastest time in the history of the Santa Anita Derby; the only horses to run faster were Lucky Debonair, Sham, and Indian Charlie, who hold a three-way tie for the record at 1:47:00. The decisive win made him an early favorite to win the 2014 Kentucky Derby and raised speculation that he had the talent to win the Triple Crown. California Chrome's four consecutive wins had a combined victory margin of lengths. After the Santa Anita Derby, Sherman began to describe the colt as "my Swaps". Of his growing popularity, Denise Martin commented, "He's not just our