The Chosen Vron shuts down Big City Lights again in Cary Grant Stakes

DEL MAR, Calif. – The Chosen Vron is back. He was not gone long.

Just two weeks after finishing fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Santa Anita, The Chosen Vron shipped south for the $98,000 Cary Grant Stakes at Del Mar and made short work of four rivals in the Cal-bred sprint stakes.

The Chosen Vron ($3) scored his 14th win, and second in the Cary Grant, by parlaying a soft trip to a 2 3/4-length victory over unlucky nemesis Big City Lights. Moose Mitchell, None Above the Law and Principe Carlo completed the order of finish.

Eric Kruljac trains and co-owns The Chosen Vron, whose condition out of the Breeders’ Cup indicated to Kruljac the 5-year-old gelding was ready for more.

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“He came out of the Breeders’ Cup just on fire,” Kruljac said. “He just bounced back super.”

Wheeling back on such short notice is a move Kruljac does not normally employ, and he acknowledged his uncertainty. “I was nervous up until about the eighth pole,” Kruljac said.

By then, the race was all but over. The Chosen Vron and jockey Hector Berrios broke quickly from the gate and set or pressed a slow pace while two-wide. The opening quarter-mile was a tepid 22.74.

Turning for home, after a second quarter in a sharp 22.18. The Chosen Vron opened up and was gone. His final time for the seven-furlong race was 1:21.22. “Maybe we’ll just let him roll early from now on,” Kruljac said regarding the front-running strategy. “I think if we would have let him roll in the Breeders’ Cup, I think he would have ended up a little better.”

The Chosen Vron, a gelding by Vronsky, has won 14 races and $1,149,6789 from 19 starts.

As for Big City Lights, he was foiled again. The runner-up finish was his fourth consecutive runner-up finish behind The Chosen Vron. The Saturday stakes was the first start for Big City Lights since January, and he lost his chance when he stumbled at the break.

Big City Lights, normally a front-runner, rallied from last but was never getting to the winner. Big City Lights has raced seven times, three wins and four seconds to The Chosen Vron.

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