Of the 150 horses that ran in the Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita two weeks ago, many have been retired. Others have been turned out, freshening up for a 2024 campaign. Then there's a small number who remain in training. One is running Saturday at Del Mar.
The Chosen Vron, winner of the G1 Bing Crosby at Del Mar this past summer and fifth of eight runners in the Breeders' Cup Sprint, is back in the $100,000 Cary Grant, one of two stakes races on the Saturday card at Del Mar.
The son of Vronsky made the giant leap into elite company this summer with his win in the Bing Crosby, a “Win and You're In” for the Breeders' Cup Sprint. Trainer Eric Kruljac had limited the 5-year old to mostly Cal-bred races throughout his 18-race career and for the most part, The Chosen Vron had won those races. Eight in a row heading into the Breeders' Cup.
So why is Kruljac wheeling his prized pupil back so quickly?
“Just the way he came back from the Breeders' Cup,” Kruljac says. “I thought he was going to fire real big in the Breeders' Cup. I don't know if it was the competition. I gotta give credit to the East Coast horses, they were dominant.
“But after five or six days he swelled up and was on fire,” Kruljac continues. “He seems extra sharp now.”
The next Cal-bred race for The Chosen Vron isn't until January 7 and Kruljac doesn't want to wait that long.
“I don't think I've ever run a horse back in two weeks,” Kruljac says. “But he was just screaming for a race. Dr. Araujo (his veterinarian) took blood on him the other day and said it was fabulous. The horse is really on his toes.”
While The Chosen Vron will be a heavy favorite in the Cary Grant, there are a couple of others in the nine-horse field who are worth keeping an eye on.
Big City Lights has done little wrong during his six-race career. The 4-year-old son of Mr. Big has won three races and placed in the other three. He captured last year's Real Good Deal at Del Mar, beating Slow Down Andy and came back and ran second to The Chosen Vron in the 2022 edition of the Cary Grant. He ran in the Cal Cup Sprint at Santa Anita in January, missing by a neck to, who else, The Chosen Vron, before being put out for a freshening for much of 2023.
“He's been training great,” assistant trainer to Richard Mandella, Taylor Cambra, says. “He's coming right along. Everything we've asked of him he's done real easy.”
So how does Cambra hope to turn the tables on The Chosen Vron.
“He just got beat in the Breeders' Cup,” Cambra notes. “That can hurt a horse's confidence. We're coming in with a fresh horse. He's coming in with a horse that's been running all year.”
Cambra's also counting on Big City Light's past form.
“The last time he got turned out he came back and won first time out,” he says. “He's a horse that kind of stays a little tighter anyway so we're not too worried about it though it's always a concern.”
Other contenders in the Cary Grant worth noting are Moose Mitchell, winner of four of his last six races including a second level allowance race at Del Mar this past summer. Lovesick Blues has been knocking on the door, finishing second to Kings River Knight in the $100,000 Bertrando at Los Alamitos in June. And the hard-knocking None Above the Law, winner of the 2021 G2 Del Mar Derby.
The 40th renewal of the Cary Grant Stakes is the eighth race on the nine race Saturday card. Approximate post time for the stakes is 4 p.m. It's named after the popular actor of the 1940's, 50's and 60's and was formerly known as the On Trust Stakes when run at Hollywood Park.
Here's the field from the rail with the jockeys and the morning line odds: Principe Carlo (Kyle Frey, 15-1); Trip to Spain (Geovanni Franco, 20-1); None Above the Law (Flavien Prat, 6-1); Lovesick Blues (Umberto Rispoli, 12-1); Fast Draw Munnings – Scratched; Big City Lights (Juan Hernandez, 5-2); The Chosen Vron (Hector Berrios, 4/5); Moose Mitchell (Mario Gutierrez, (12-1), and Desmond Doss (Tyler Baze, 12-1).
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