The Chosen Vron extends win streak to eight in a row in Bing Crosby

DEL MAR, Calif. — Nobody beats the honest gelding The Chosen Vron. Not the statebreds he defeated in seven consecutive California-bred stakes, and not the Grade 1 rivals he defeated Saturday at Del Mar to win his eighth straight under jockey Hector Berrios.

Despite trouble on the turn of the six-furlong Bing Crosby Stakes, The Chosen Vron scored a game victory over runner-up Anarchist and third-place finisher Dr. Schivel to stamp himself as the top sprinter in California. Was there ever any doubt? Of course there was.

The Chosen Vron is trained by Eric Kruljac, who kept finding the path of least resistance for his 5-year-old gelding. The plan worked as The Chosen Vron racked up win after win against statebred company. Open company posed a steep challenge, and Kruljac acknowledged he wavered about running in the Bing Crosby.

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“I went back and forth,” he said after the Chosen Vron ($11) won by a head over Anarchist. What was the deciding factor for Kruljac? “My foremen [Herlindo Garcia] said he would shoot me. Basically, I yielded.”

There was no yielding for The Chosen Vron, who raced in sixth position behind the fast pace (21.92 and 44.42) set by Peaceful Waters. It got dicey for The Chosen Vron on the turn, who steadied briefly in traffic. He quickly regained momentum and rallied two-wide into the lane while Dr. Schivel rallied widest of all with a full head of steam.

Anarchist came outside The Chosen Vron the lane, and just when it looked The Chosen Vron might finish third, the Vronsky gelding dug in and held on win in 1:09.24. With his eighth straight, The Chosen Vron has won 13 of 17 starts. He earned $240,000 to push his career earnings to $1,032,678.

Some of his seven-figure purse earnings might be used to make him eligible to the Breeders’ Cup Sprint. It will cost $100,000 and Kruljac said “it will be up to the partners.” The Chosen Vron is owned by Kruljac, Sondereker Racing, Robert Fetkin, and Richard Thornburgh.

The Chosen Vron defeated a good field in the Bing Crosby. The runner-up Anarchist was coming off a second-place finish in a Grade 2 won by behind Elite Power, who won his eighth straight Saturday at Saratoga. Third-place finisher Dr. Schivel, the favorite who won the Bing Crosby in 2021, lost ground rallying wide, and hung late. American Theorem, Bing Crosby winner last year, finished sixth. Group 1 Golden Shaheen winner Sibelius finished seventh

The finish order after the top three was Kid Corleone, C Z Rocket, American Theorem, Sibelius, Hoist the Gold, Get her Number, Peaceful Waters, Todo Fino, and Spirit of Makena.

The win by The Chosen Vron was the first Grade 1 for Kruljac since Leave Me Alone won the Grade 1 Test Stakes in 2005. It was the first Grade 1 for Berrios since he rode Blue Stripe to victory in the Clement L. Hirsch last summer at Del Mar.

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