ARCADIA — As a 6-year-old horse and a 71-year-old trainer, The Chosen Vron and Eric Kruljac can see the end of their racing careers from here.
But they’re not done yet.
“Definitely it will be my last good horse, and my best horse,” Kruljac said Saturday at Santa Anita. “As long as he’s running like this, I’ll stick around.”
Kruljac spoke during his latest trip to a racetrack winner’s circle as The Chosen Vron’s trainer and part-owner, marking the popular California-bred gelding’s fourth win in a row, 12th in a row in non-Breeders’ Cup races and 17th in 22 lifetime starts.
Second early to Forbidden Kingdom and under pressure turning into the stretch from Happy Jack in the $100,000 Kona Gold Stakes, The Chosen Vron ($2.40) and jockey Hector Berrios coolly took charge late in the 7-furlong sprint to win by three-quarters of a length in a sharp 1:14.82.
Happy Jack finished five lengths clear of third-place Express Train, the 2022 Santa Anita Handicap, while the disappointment was last-place Forbidden Kingdom, the 2022 San Vicente and San Felipe stakes winner.
“The only difference today was the pressure he received from (jockey Frankie) Dettori and (Happy Jack),” Berrios said in Spanish. “He likes to run comfortably, so today he made me work a little more.”
With classy comebacking horses pointing for the Kona Gold, Kruljac didn’t initially nominate The Chosen Vron for the Kona Gold, but supplemented him for a $2,000 fee because he looked so eager in workouts following his win in the Grade III San Carlos Stakes in mid-March.
The San Carlos worried Kruljac because it came a few days after The Chosen Vron was named California-bred Horse of the Year for 2023 by the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association. The owner-trainer was afraid of a comedown, which didn’t come.
Now Kruljac has his sights on a repeat win in the $100,000 Thor’s Echo Stakes at Santa Anita on May 25, then a repeat in the $400,000, Grade I Bing Crosby Stakes at Del Mar on July 27, and then another shot at the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Del Mar on Nov. 2.
Kruljac calls the Breeders’ Cup a “shot at revenge” after The Chosen Vron finished fifth behind winner Elite Power in 2023.
A Breeders’ Cup win would be a nice way for both to cap their careers, but on Saturday’s evidence neither the horse nor his trainer will be ready to stop.
Later Saturday, Uncorked ($12.80) became a stakes winner for the first time as the Australian-bred 5-year-old mare and Dettori rallied along the rail to win the $100,000, Grade III Royal Heroine Stakes for trainer Phil D’Amato.