Eric Kruljac may not be a household name. In fact, he may not make many race fans' most-recognizable-trainers list. But if the star of his barn, California-bred The Chosen Vron, continues to win races like he did in the Bing Crosby (G1) July 29 at Del Mar, that will all change.
The veteran trainer with the perpetual smile turned 70 in February and his level of experience in horseracing is second to none. He grew up on a California ranch between Carmel and Salinas and spent many a day of his youth hanging out in the barn of his father's trainer, Hall of Famer Buster Millerick.
When a broken ankle ended a promising football career in college, he started a successful private detective business. It was not like the private detectives you see on TV.
“No, far less glamorous,” Kruljac said. “When an insurance adjuster feels a certain claimant is faking his injuries or cheating the system, they'll hire an investigator to go out and surveil the person. You take film that shows the person doing all sorts of things, playing football or baseball. We got 400 feet of film of a guy that was loading 125 pound bales of hay onto a truck hours after he left his doctor in a wheelchair wearing a neck brace.”
As a side, Kruljac bought and sold racehorses and his brother trained them. This went on for about 16 years until his brother decided to quit training. Kruljac, in turn, decided to quit the private detective business and took up training full time.
“I gave up the money to be a broke horseman,” he said with a smile. “Investigating workman comp claims provided me with the money to buy broodmares. When my brother quit training, I decided to train by myself and it's been that way for 30 years.
“There was no pressure because I had partnerships that I led,” Kruljac continued. “When I started training, the owners and partners went along with it. I became a seven days a week guy.”
Kruljac started with a small string at Turf Paradise in Phoenix in the winters, shifting to California the rest of the year. In 2008, he moved to the Golden State full time.
His first taste of Grade 1 success came in 2005 when his mare Leave Me Alone won the Test (G1) at Saratoga. Kruljac bought her for $35,000 at a sale not far from Del Mar.
“I had hooked up with a lawyer who had just made a killing on a big lawsuit,” Kruljac recalls. “He wanted to invest in horses.
“There was a sale out by Horse Park on the other side of the freeway east of Del Mar,” Kruljac continued. “I didn't think he'd be interested because he wanted Kentucky stock, but when we met at the races later I told him I had been at this little Cal-bred sale. He asked, 'Did you see anything you like?' and I told him there was this filly that is the most perfect, athletic thing I had ever seen but she's crazy and he said, 'Why don't you buy her for me.'”
Kruljac trained Leave Me Alone until 2006 when she was retired with $653,330 in earnings. The following year, Summer Wind Farm paid $1 million for the California-bred daughter of Bold Badgett in foal to A.P. Indy at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Mixed Sale.
Fast forward to 2023 and Kruljac is back in the catbird seat, training prospective Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) contender The Chosen Vron.
“He's doing great,” Kruljac said of the 5-year-old Vronksy gelding he co-owns with Sondereker Racing LLC, Robert S. Fetkin, and Richard Thornburgh. “He got three easy days (after the Bing Crosby) and we went back to the track yesterday (Friday) and jogged a mile. We did the same thing this (Saturday) morning. We'll give him a couple of easy weeks and then put a plan together.”
Overall, the ultra-consistent The Chosen Vron has a 13-1-2 record from 17 career starts and $1,032,678 in lifetime earnings.
Meanwhile, Kruljac has not lost his interest in breeding.
“I have pieces of five mares,” Kruljac said. “They're all up at Legacy Ranch and they're all going to Clubhouse Ride. Breeding is in my blood.”
Said the grandson of a Hall of Fame cattle breeder.
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