This weekend promises to be one of the most glorious Sporting Weekends of the year. It kicks off on Friday with the Epsom Oaks, followed by the Epsom Derby the following afternoon, where a horse named Australia who lives in Ireland will try and win the Blue Riband of the British Turf. After that we jet across the Atlantic to see if California Chrome can make an American dream come true by becoming the first Triple Crown Winner in over three and a half decades. And then from the Turf to the dirt we return to the red clay of Roland Garros for what promises to be an epic showdown in the French Open Final. The second Grand Slam of the year.

But prior to that sumptuous sporting Saturday, a Shoe Company called Skechers, based in the United States has got into the act and joined the California Chrome bandwagon.  They are asking the world  “What do California Chrome and Meb  Keflezighi have in common ?” A heap of things we find, but  allow me to answer that as we go along.

 For starters, both are based in the US of A and they have American” passports”.  Both are superb athletes although one is of the equine breed and the other of the human race. Both have started out before this season as the underdog. Both are now stars in their own right having won some of the most high profile races ever in their career.  And now what laces them together is an American Shoe Company called Skechers who earlier sponsored Meb and have now just signed a deal with the Dumb Ass Partnership of Coburn and Martin who own California Chrome.

California Chrome is a superstar already in his own right and he is poised to gain immortality if he can keep his date with destiny and win the Belmont Stakes – the third leg of the American Triple Crown on Saturday 7^th June.

Meb too has already made it. At the age of 38 he became the first American male since 1983 to win the world famous Boston Marathon earlier this year. Skechers may have pulled off quite a marketing coup with Meb who ran the Boston Marathon in the latest running shoes Skechers had to offer but what or how are they going to kit out that four legged wonder horse California Chrome ? I mean a horse being sponsored by a Shoe Company !!! What next ? He already uses a Nasal Strip to keep his nostrils flared so all that’s left is for Raybans to give him a pair of designer eyeshades.

But California Chrome won’t be wearing two pairs of Skechers shoes. His owners and trainer Art Sherman will while he will be coming out to race in the shoes he has worn right through his seven run victorious blitz. Skechers will have their logo on his livery and if he wins the sort of publicity Skechers will get could well make their tie-up the Marketing Coup of the year.