The Chosen Vron (second off rail, black silks) in a four-way battle for the Bing Crosby at Del Mar. (Ernie Belmonte/Past The Wire)
Breeders’ Cup Notes
Trainer Eric Kruljac once got some sage advice from his grandfather, a rancher who sparked his young grandson’s interest in horses: To be successful, keep yourself in the best of company, and keep your horses in the worst of company. That was the mantra by which Walter Markham lived.
And, while perhaps that advice may have been part of Kruljac’s star THE CHOSEN VRON’s racing success, when he ripped through the state-bred competition en route to seven consecutive stakes victories, it appears that his grandson is defying the second half of that equation in quest of a win in Saturday’s Qatar Racing Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) against the best and fastest horses around.
The Chosen Vron will be attempting to become only the third California-bred horse to win the 6-furlong dash. And, if he emerges victorious, he would be only the sixth Cal-bred overall in 40 years to do so. So, it would seem that the odds are stacked against the son of Vronsky.
But during his 17-race career, the odds actually have favored the chestnut gelding. He owns 13 career victories and only has finished worse than third once. He has been favored in 11 of those outings, nine of them at even money odds or less. And despite being an offspring of the mating between a $40,000 broodmare and a stallion who stands for a modest $3,500, The Chosen Vron has banked more than $1 million.
“I’ve been around horses for more than 30 years, initially as a breeder and now as a trainer,” Kruljac said, “and I can tell when a horse is going to be something special. This is one of them.”
Kruljac always has run a relatively small stable, but he enjoys the hands-on nature of it. Yet that hasn’t prevented him from scaling the heights to tackle bigger races or tougher competitors. He saddled Leave Me Alone for a (then) record 8 1/2-length win in Saratoga’s Test Stakes (G1). Later, he bought a horse, Finest City, for his son, trainer Ian, then his assistant at the bran, which won in his first Breeders’ Cup start.
While these successes may have been few, the quality has resonated with Eric. As both co-breeder and co-owner of The Chosen Veon, he has enjoyed the fruits of his success each and every step of the way, starting with a runaway 6 3/4-length win in his career debut. And that was the last start this gem of consistency made in any race that wasn’t a stakes or handicap — a string of 16 consecutive.
The Chosen Vron has displayed amazing versatility, too, winning at distances short and long, and over surfaces of dirt and turf. Asked which the horse preferred, Kruljac demurred, “He probably likes the dirt most.” Asked to describe the horse, the conditioner added, “He’s a cool horse just to be around. He’s playful around the barn, where he’ll lick you, but not bite you. But he’s very competitive on the track, as evidenced by his impressive record.”
Kruljac stated, “He was always a very nice horse, but he got really good when we returned him to the races after a minor surgery in 2021. He began training like a monster.”
For all the gelding’s success, Kruljac was especially animated in discussing the horse’s most recent win in Del Mar’s Bing Crosby Handicap (G1), which offered an all-expenses paid berth for this year’s Breeders’ Cup Sprint to the victor. “That was the most exciting race I’ve ever been a part of,” he said. “I was not so surprised that he was capable of winning, rather more that he did win it. The rider had to take him up severely just as he was beginning to make his move, then he had to practically re-break in the middle of the final turn. It was impressive that he was able to overcome it, then tough out a hard-fought three-way photo finish for the head victory over two really good stakes winners (Anarchist and Dr. Schivel). The winning time was the fastest six furlongs of the summer Del Mar meeting.
“His regular rider, Hector Barrios, is part of the success equation as well,” Kruljac added. “He gets along with him well and regularly works the horse in the mornings.” Barrios has been aboard for their past eight stakes stake engagements — all triumphant.
“This will be a tough, but exciting race,” the trainer said. “There looks to be lots of speed, so we should be able to make one run into an honest pace.”
For all the sage advice and all the odds that face The Chosen Vron, one fact is undeniable: the gelding has never lost a race at 6 furlongs, the distance of the Breeders’ Cup Sprint.
