The owners of
CALIFORNIA CHROME have filed to trademark
the horse's name in what appears to be the first step in
commercialising what could potentially be the first Triple Crown winner
in 36 years, reports
espn.go.com.
Records
with the US Patent and Trademark Office show that the syndicate that
owns the horse of Steve Coburn and Perry Martin, and their wives, who
race CALIFORNIA CHROME under the name syndicate name "Dumb Ass
Partners", filed for the trademark last Thursday, two days before
California Chrome's win in the Preakness, the second leg of the Triple
Crown.
The owners hope to trademark the phrase on athletic apparel including "shirts, pants, jackets, footwear, hats and caps."
When
California Chrome lines up in the Belmont Stakes on 7 June, he will be
the 13th horse to go for the Triple Crown since Affirmed swept all three
legs in 1978.
Over
the next couple of weeks, California Chrome's owners could set up
contingency licensing deals that would allow companies to immediately
start selling Triple Crown gear should he win.
However, such a strategy carries obvious risks.
Most
recent candidate I'll Have Another's Triple Crown bid was halted when
the horse was scratched the day before the Belmont in 2012, thousands of
shirts at the racetrack bearing the horse's name became worthless.