While defending champion Elite Power and the sensational filly Echo Zulu, if she goes, are the clear-cut leaders of the Eastern delegation to this year’s Breeders’ Cup Sprint, there is little to choose among the well-matched West Coast contingent that features The Chosen Vron, Anarchist, and Dr. Schivel. That trio finished heads apart, in that order, when they last met in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby this summer at Del Mar. Both Anarchist and Dr. Schivel have since returned to flatter the result of the Bing Crosby, with victories by Anarchist in the Grade 2 Pat O’Brien and Dr. Schivel in the Grade 2 Santa Anita Sprint Championship, where he outlasted Speed Boat Beach, who also is expected to represent the left coast in the Sprint. Trainer Eric Kruljac, who also is a part-owner of The Chosen Vron, opted to bypass both those races to bring his horse into the Breeders’ Cup fresh off a 14-week layoff. The Chosen Vron, who has won seven of his eight starts at Santa Anita, will carry an eight-race winning streak into the Breeders’ Cup, punctuated by his gritty victory in the six-furlong Bing Crosby. It was a noteworthy performance, considering he was forced to take up sharply in traffic at the midway point of the race before ultimately outgaming both Anarchist and Dr. Schivel to the wire after the trio had hooked up three across the track through the final furlong. :: BREEDERS’ CUP 2023: See DRF’s special section with top contenders, odds, comments, news, and more for each division “Watching and having him win that race was the thrill of my racing career,” Kruljac said. “The other two horses rallied wide and that cost them, but my horse really took the brunt of it. He probably lost five or six lengths steadying like he did. The courage he showed rebounding from that and still getting up to win was amazing.” Kruljac, whose only previous Grade 1 winner came 18 years earlier with Leave Me Alone in the 2005 Test at Saratoga, said the decision was made shortly after the Bing Crosby to train The Chosen Vron into the Breeders’ Cup, where he will try to emulate his son Ian, who won the Filly and Mare Sprint with his first Breeders’ Cup starter, Finest City, at Santa Anita in 2016. “He’s always run well fresh and he’s doing as good as he possibly can at this point,” Kruljac said. “He’s on his toes and ready to roll. Hopefully, there will be no bumps in the road going forward. I’ve really only paid attention to the horses here, although obviously I’m aware there are some very good ones coming in. I think it’s really an advantage for him the way he really loves this racetrack, and he’s probably going to have to run his career best to hit the podium.” As expected, last Friday’s Grade 2 Phoenix Stakes at Keeneland produced a couple of additional starters for the Sprint, Hoist the Gold and Nakatomi, who finished first and second in the third and final Breeders’ Cup Challenge race for the event. The Grade 1-placed Hoist the Gold’s three-quarter-length decision over Nakatomi in the Phoenix earned him an automatic, expenses-paid berth into the Sprint, where he will get a second chance at The Chosen Vron, Anarchist, and Dr. Schivel after having shipped west during the summer to finish a non-threatening eighth behind that group in the Bing Crosby. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.