Lovesick Blues back in the pink for return in The Chosen Vron

Lovesick Blues will make his long-awaited return to West Coast racing in the $100,000 The Chosen Vron Stakes on Saturday at Del Mar. Trainer Librado Barocio said Lovesick Blues’s stint in the Middle East earlier this year was a “memorable experience,” but the California-bred needed time to get back to business in the United States.

“I had him in the barn for a little bit and I looked at him, and you could see that it took a toll on him,” Barocio said. “He was thinner. He just wasn’t Lovesick. He’s usually spirited and tough to handle, but he just looked like he was tired. I gave him 90 days, just to relax, and took my time getting him back.”

In two starts this year, Lovesick Blues finished fifth in the Group 2, $2 million Riyadh Dirt Sprint in Saudi Arabia before running a distant eighth in the Group 1, $2 million Golden Shaheen in Dubai in March. After brief training stints in May and August, he appeared sharp in three workouts in October, convincing Barocio to bring him back Saturday.

The 8-year-old gelding’s last start in the United States came at Del Mar a year ago, when he overcame a crowded trip to close for sixth in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint. His only other dirt start in 2025 came in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby, where he scored an 18-1 upset victory and earned a 105 Beyer Speed Figure.

“He got stuck once, maybe twice, and then he was flying,” Barocio said of the Breeders’ Cup last year. “You’re always looking for a better result, but I think he represented himself good. I’m looking for maybe one more shot at that next year.”

In the Dubai Golden Shaheen, Barocio said he added blinkers because the gelding had become increasingly slow in the early stages of races on both turf and dirt. He failed to improve with the equipment change, however, which the trainer took as a sign that he simply needed time off. He will run without blinkers from the far outside post in the field of nine California-breds on Saturday.

In his 46th career start, Lovesick Blues will run seven furlongs for the first time. He has not run beyond 6 1/2 furlongs since June 2024, when he just missed in the $100,000 Bertrando at Los Alamitos.

Big City Lights, a 7-year-old trained by Richard Mandella, also ran in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint last year, finishing eighth after a similarly difficult start. In three starts on dirt this year, he won twice before finishing a length behind in the Grade 2 Pat O’Brien in August. Last month, he switched to the downhill turf course and ran fifth in the $100,000 California Flag Handicap.

“I expect him to run really big,” Mandella said. “He’s doing great. I think the seven-eighths will help.”

Man O Rose will go for his second straight statebred stakes victory after dueling to win the $75,000 E.B. Johnston at Los Alamitos in September. The Jeff Mullins trainee has lost in two starts on turf this year, but he remains unebeaten in five stakes on dirt going back to September 2025.