ARCADIA — The California Gold Rush Day stakes at Santa Anita on Saturday didn’t merely showcase the best Cal-bred racehorses around. They spotlighted a couple of the most reliable racehorses of any extraction.
The Chosen Vron won the first of the five stakes on the card devoted to Cal-breds, making light work of a 2 1/4-length victory with jockey Hector Berrios in the $100,000 Thor’s Echo Stakes for sprinters.
A half-hour later, Kings River Knight led all the way, winning by 1 1/2 convincing lengths with jockey Juan Hernandez in the $100,000 Crystal Water Stakes on the turf.
Each 6-year-old gelding won his fifth race in a row. The Chosen Vron was 1-9 on the tote board and paid $2.10 for a $2 win bet, and Kings River Knight was 1-5 and paid $2.40. Hope you didn’t spend the $2.60 double payoff all in one place.
“You fret, no matter what. There’s a million ways to lose a horse race,” said Eric Kruljac, The Chosen Vron’s trainer.
But The Chosen Vron doesn’t find any of those million ways often, and the 2023 Cal-bred Horse of the Year wasn’t likely to against this four-horse field. After a sharp start from the rail post, Berrios tracked leader and eventual runner-up Sawasdee before asserting his horse’s superiority in the stretch.
In the winner’s circle, the son of Vronsky and Tiz Molly hardly looked as if he’d exerted himself. It was as easy as any of his 18 wins in 23 career starts and 13 wins in his past 14, the loss being a fifth-place finish behind Elite Power in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Santa Anita last November.
The time for the 6-furlong race was 1:09.37, about one-fifth of a second faster than when The Chosen Vron won the Thor’s Echo a year ago.
“He’s still just as good as he was last year. That’s what you look for when they’re getting a little age on them. So far, I don’t see any (decline),” Kruljac said.
It wasn’t quite as easy for Kings River Knight, a son of Acclamation and Seasontoperfection, but the result was familiar. This was the 10th time in 16 career starts, and the win was the seventh in his past eight races.
Running one mile on grass in 1:35.75, more than a second slower than his win in this race in 2023, Kings River Knight spurted away from his eight opponents in upper stretch and stayed clear of runnerup Barely Funtional.
If The Chosen Vron left a tough act to follow, Kings River Knight was up to the task.
Their popular wins set the tone for a California Gold Rush Day of punctual betting favorites.
Grand Slam Smile ($4.20), another favorite, won by 4 1/2 widening lengths over Safa in the $125,000 Melair Stakes for 3-year-old fillies with jockey Frank Alvarado for Bay Area trainer Steve Specht. Grand Slam Smile now is 5 for 7 in her career and 4 for 4 on trips south to Santa Anita.
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Stay and Scam ($3), also favored, won by a length over 27-1 Moment’s Pleasure in the $100,000 Fran’s Valentine Stakes for fillies and mares at a mile on turf with jockey Mario Gutierrez for trainer Doug O’Neill. Paul Reddam bred and owns the 4-year-old filly.
Shady Tiger ($6.60), a close second in the betting, gave Hernandez his third riding win of the afternoon, stretching out from sprint distances to 1 1/8 miles on turf to win by one-half length over Two by Four in the $125,000 Snow Chief Stakes for 3-year-olds. Trainer Phil D’Amato has won at least one stakes-level race on five weekends in a row.
Santa Anita’s holiday weekend continues with the Santa Margarita Stakes on Sunday and the Hollywood Gold Cup and two other graded stakes on Memorial Day.