Finest City, Kruljac find themselves in rarified company in BC Filly and Mare Sprint

ARCADIA, Calif. – The Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint will be contested by horses from the barns of Bob Baffert, Bill Mott, Chad Brown, and other world-renowned trainers.

And then there’s Ian Kruljac, whose career victories stand at a grand total of three, all from Finest City, one of the sleepers in the seven-furlong Filly and Mare Sprint.

“She’s running, not me,” said Kruljac. “She’s going to speak for herself.”

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Kruljac, 28, is the son of trainer Eric Kruljac, who has split his stable for years among the Southern California, Northern California, and Arizona circuits. Ian Kruljac grew up in Phoenix, where he attended the University of Arizona Race Track Industry Program.

“Dropped out my senior year,” he said. “Couldn’t pass chemistry.”

He returned to his racetrack roots, running the shed row for one of his dad’s “off” strings in Arizona before joining him as an assistant in California. His first starter on his own was Finest City, an odds-on favorite in a maiden race in August 2015 at Del Mar. The filly won easily, and a little more than a year later, here they are in the Breeders’ Cup.

Owned by the Seltzer Thoroughbreds of Tyler and Wayne Seltzer, Finest City is a 4-year-old Pennsylvania-bred filly by City Zip, a sire perhaps best known for turf fillies. As Finest City matured, Kruljac gave her a chance to prove herself under a variety of circumstances, including on turf and at a distance. But deep down, he always felt she did her best work sprinting on dirt.

“We’ve always had this race in mind,” he said. “Even this summer at Del Mar, when we were running her in the Yellow Ribbon and Mabee, we hoped we’d wind up in this spot.”

From 13 career starts, Finest City has 3 wins, 4 seconds, and 2 thirds. In her last start Sept. 4, she was second by a head in the Grade 2 John C. Mabee, a 1 1/8-mile turf race at Del Mar.

“We considered running her in a prep like the L.A. Woman, but not really,” said Kruljac.

Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith has the mount in the Nov. 5 race and has been aboard at Santa Anita for the filly’s last two workouts, including a six-furlong blowout in 1:11.80 on Oct. 15.

“Mike is very happy with her,” said Kruljac. “So am I.”