Brickyard Ride and The Chosen Vron meet for first time in Thor's Echo Stakes
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The showdown is on.
Top California-bred sprinters Brickyard Ride and The Chosen Vron will meet for the first time in Sunday’s $100,000 Thor’s Echo Stakes for statebreds at six furlongs at Santa Anita.
The Chosen Vron, a 10-time stakes winner who has won six consecutive stakes since September, was entered in Sunday’s $100,000 Crystal Water Stakes at a mile on turf, but trainer and co-owner Eric Kruljac said on Friday he prefers to run The Chosen Vron in the Thor’s Echo.
To win the Thor’s Echo, The Chosen Vron must catch the speedy Brickyard Ride, an eight-time stakes winner.
Brickyard Ride, who won the Grade 3 Kona Gold Stakes at 6 1/2 furlongs on April 22 in his last start, will be part of the pace, while The Chosen Vron will likely race as a stalker.
“We’re going to let him do what he usually does – go fast,” trainer Craig Lewis said of Brickyard Ride.
Lewis said he expects The Chosen Vron to test Brickyard Ride.
“If I was a fan I’d like to see it, but as a trainer I’d like to have it easier,” Lewis said. “It’s good for racing to have these two horses race together.”
The Chosen Vron is more versatile than Brickyard Ride, and has won on the lead and from off the pace.
“If my horse runs his best, he hasn’t run a horse like Brickyard Ride down yet, but the numbers indicate that he belongs,” Kruljac said. “My horse is doing really well.”
The Chosen Vron has not started since a nose win in the Sensational Star Stakes at about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course on March 19. After that race, Kruljac said he planned to give The Chosen Vron a rest until this weekend.
The Thor’s Echo field includes Positivity, who was third by five lengths in the Kona Gold Stakes in his first start in more than 13 months.
The Thor’s Echo Stakes might be the most eagerly-anticipated of five stakes for statebreds on Sunday’s 10-race program. The others are the Crystal Water, the Snow Chief, the Fran’s Valentine, and the Melair.
The Thor’s Echo, the ninth race on the program, drew a field of six, but None Above the Law will scratch and start in the Crystal Water, the first race of the day, trainer Peter Miller said on Friday.
“Can I run in both?” Miller said.
The Crystal Water Stakes will be None Above the Law’s first start since a fourth-place finish in the Cary Grant Stakes at seven furlongs at Del Mar last November. The Chosen Vron won the race, with None Above the Law finishing 4 3/4 lengths back of him.
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None Above the Law is winless in eight starts since an upset victory in the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby in September 2021, his fourth stakes win.
“We are planning to stay on the turf,” Miller said. “The pace and the race setup is a better spot to come back in.”
The Crystal Water field includes Kings River Knight and Indian Peak, who were second and third in the Sensational Star, and Coalinga Road, who won the Unusual Heat Turf Classic for statebreds at 1 1/8 miles in January.
The 2023 turf stakes winners Closing Remarks and Rose Maddox are part of a competitive field of seven in the Fran’s Valentine, for fillies and mares going a mile on turf.
Closing Remarks won the Grade 2 Royal Heroine Stakes at a mile on turf on April 1, and was fourth as the 8-5 favorite after a wide trip in the Grade 3 Wilshire Stakes at a mile on turf on April 30.
Rose Maddox won the Golden Poppy Stakes on turf at Golden Gate Fields on April 29 for her second stakes win of the year.
Big Switch was third by six lengths in the Grade 2 Santa Maria Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on April 29. Trained by John Sadler, Big Switch was fifth in an allowance race for 3-year-old turf sprinters in February 2022 in her only race on grass, and has finished in the top three in five subsequent starts.
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