The Chosen Vron looks to start new win streak in Cary Grant

DEL MAR, Calif. – The Chosen Vron is expected to begin a new win streak Saturday at Del Mar, where he faces easier company than two weeks ago at Santa Anita.

After a fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint ended an eight-race win streak, The Chosen Vron drops into the same California-bred division he has dominated for more than a year. The Chosen Vron did not have to run back this soon after the Breeders’ Cup, but why wait? He is a racehorse, after all.

“He’s going to the track, feeling good, and I don’t think there’s an appropriate race for him until January,” trainer Eric Kruljac explained. “If I don’t run him in this race, he’ll be off for more than two months.”

The California Cup Sprint, which he won last year, is in early January.

The Chosen Vron may be dropping in class for the $100,000 Cary Grant Stakes, but the seven-furlong race is hardly a walkover. The Chosen Vron faces a host of stakes winners including frequent nemesis Big City Lights, veteran None Above the Law, and Fast Draw Munnings.

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Others in the Cary Grant, race 8, include Principe Carlo, the 2021 Cary Grant winner; Desmond Doss, a three-time California-bred stakes winner; Trip to Spain, Lovesick Blues, and Moose Mitchell.

The star of the show is The Chosen Vron, Grade 1 winner and top sprinter in California who finished more than five lengths behind East Coast-based Elite Power in the BC Sprint.

“Maybe we could have tightened the screws a little bit more than we did,” Kruljac, before he settled on the obvious reason for the loss. “I just don’t know that he could have run with those horses.”

The Chosen Vron fell short in the BC Sprint because the East and Midwest sprinters who finished in front of him were better. It happened often in the 2023 Breeders’ Cup. Horses whose most recent start was in California went 0 for 33.

The Chosen Vron can get back on track Saturday under jockey Hector Berrios. The gelding has won 13 races and $1,092,678 from 18 starts. His 12 stakes wins include the Grade 1 Bing Crosby in summer at Del Mar. The fastest in the Cary Grant field on figures with a closing style that suits a lively pace scenario, The Chosen Vron enters the Cary Grant as a deserving favorite.

Big City Lights is a familiar rival. After winning his first three career starts, Big City Lights subsequently finished second three times in stakes won by The Chosen Vron. Big City Lights, who finished first or second in all six starts, makes his comeback Saturday over the track and seven-furlong distance at which he won the Real Good Deal in 2022.

Richard Mandella trains Big City Lights, who had surgery for a bone chip following a Jan. 7 loss to The Chosen Vron. Ten-month layoff aside, Mandella expects a top effort first start back. “He’s doing great, he’s grown up, filled up, beautiful horse,” the trainer said.

None Above the Law seeks his first win since the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby in 2021, but the Peter Miller trainee is in good form with thirds in two recent California-bred stakes. Flavien Prat worked him last weekend and rides None Above the Law on Saturday.

“He likes this track, and seven-eighths is a really good distance for him,” Miller said, referring to his win in the 2021 Real Good Deal. “He’s doing very well; he worked well [Sunday].”

Miller won the Cary Grant three times with Solid Wager, in 2015, 2016, and 2018. Another historical quirk applies to None Above the Law’s jockey. Prat’s career Del Mar total is 11 for 24 in seven-furlong California-bred stakes. Prat won with 11 different horses, including None Above the Law.

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