DAP Racing

The ownership of California Chrome during his racing career was held by two entities. The first was DAP Racing, a horse racing partnership between Perry Martin from Yuba City, California, and Steve Coburn of Topaz Lake, Nevada, along with their spouses, Denise Martin and Carolyn Coburn. DAP stands for "Dumb Ass Partners"—a tongue-in-cheek response to a passerby who questioned their wisdom in purchasing the partnership's first racehorse, the mare Love the Chase, who became the dam of 2014 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner California Chrome, her first foal. Coburn owned a 30% interest in the horse and in July 2015 sold his share to Taylor Made Farm. Following the sale, Martins and Taylor Made each sold "a few" shares in the stallion to "select breeders who would support the horse," forming the ownership syndicate California Chrome, LLC. The DAP partnership had jointly owned other horses, including California Chrome's full siblings and his dam, Love the Chase.

Perry Martin was the majority owner of California Chrome and Steve Coburn held a 30% interest. The Martins and the Coburns had in common a fondness for California Chrome, but otherwise very different personalities and backgrounds. As Carolyn Coburn explained, "We couldn't be more different. We met at the racetrack because of a horse. That's what's so great about this game. It brings people together." The Martins seldom talked to the press, but Melissa Hoppert of The New York Times described them as the "quiet thinkers," noting that Perry Martin planned the mating of Lucky Pulpit with Love the Chase, mapped out a "Road to the Derby" racing plan for the horse, and promoted use of a nasal strip for California Chrome's races. Hoppert characterized the outgoing Coburns as the "public relations arm" of the partnership.

The Martins are from Chicago. They met over a mutual interest in the novel Foundation by Isaac Asimov, and went to the harness races on their first date; Perry Martin had been going to horse races at Arlington Park since he was a teenager. Today they own and operate Martin Testing Laboratories (MTL), a division of Materials Technology Laboratories, Inc. that is located within McClellan Business Park at the former McClellan Air Force Base. MTL tests items such as automobile airbags and medical equipment. The company provides product assurance and reliability testing of new technologies and materials.

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