California Chrome's exercise rider used to ride bucking bulls

ARCADIA, Calif. — California Chrome, the 2014 Kentucky Derby winner who has been known to rear up on his hind legs when someone is on his back, has met his match: The horse’s current exercise rider, Dihigi Gladney, once rode bucking bulls.

Gladney, 41, grew up in a tough section of Los Angeles idolizing not the likes of Bill Shoemaker, but rather Charlie “Pee Wee’’ Sampson, the first black cowboy to win the world title in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association.

Gladney, who competed in rodeo events when he attended high school in Compton, said he draws on that experience when he climbs aboard California Chrome, an even-money favorite headed into the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic Saturday at Santa Anita Park.

"You never know which Chrome you’re going to get,’’ Gladney, whose first name is pronounced Da-hash-ee, told Paste BN Sports. “Sometimes he can be dead on gentle. Other times he can be on fire. And when he’s on fire, he’s tough to ride."

Unlike California Chrome, the horse’s trainers said, Gladney is predictable — always upbeat and focused since he was hired about a year ago, after the horse’s previous exercise rider failed to show up the day before the 2015 Dubai World Cup.

Gladney began working with California Chrome after the horse returned from a three-month layoff while recovering from a bone bruise. Since then, the horse has won each of its six races in 2016.

Alan Sherman, who along with his father, Art, trains California Chrome, said Gladney deserves some credit for the horse’s success.

"Absolutely, because Chrome can be tough to handle,’’ Sherman told Paste BN Sports. “With Dihigi on him I don’t have to worry about him falling off. He can handle him.’’

Gladney said California Chrome compares to some of the rankest bulls he rode before quitting rodeo at age 19 in exchange to pursue a career as a professional horse jockey.

"I guess I got tired of getting toted off out of the arena,’’ he said. “You know, a broken ankle every time I look up or in the hospital because of this. Bull riding prepared me to come to the race track, though.’’

He did not avoid injury. In fact, in 2002, Gladney broke four discs in his back and all of the ribs on his left side during a spill that sidelined him for almost five years. He returned to racing and had won more than 300 races before retiring in 2013 and focusing on a pony ride business.

Then Alan Sherman called and offered Gladney a chance to serve as California Chrome’s exercise rider, which has made Gladney a popular figure among the horse’s legion of fans known as Chromies. What they might not see is the influence of the first black world champion of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association.

Said Gladney: “There’s a whole lot of Pee Wee on Chrome when I ride him in the morning.’’