Trainer J. Eric Kruljac noted immediately after the Bing Crosby Stakes (G1) at Del Mar he will not be training last month Vron is selected until this year’s Breeders’ Cup. At some point, he’ll give his star gelding a trial between now and November. Now he’s decided what that trial will look like.
Kruljac said he will contest the $250,000 Pat O’Brien Stakes (G2) on August 24, a seven-furlong event that could also attract this year’s Saudi Cup (G1) winner, Mr. Buscador .
“He’s doing really well,” Kruljac said of The Chosen Vron. “We’re going tomorrow morning (August 17). He’s getting everything so far and I couldn’t be happier with his training.”
Chosen Vron had his first performance since Bing Crosby on August 10 when he ran three furlongs in :36, the fourth best of 16 at that distance that morning. So what does Kruljac do to keep ‘Vron’ in top form?
“When you’re given a perfect model, it’s pretty easy,” Kruljac notes. “It’s not rocket science.”
Last year, The Chosen Vron also won the Bing Crosby, a Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series event for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1). Kruljac chose to train the horse for the big race and he finished fifth, 5 1/4 lengths behind the winner, Elite Power .
“I felt like I gave him too much time between Bing Crosby and the Breeders’ Cup last year,” Kruljac admitted. “He’s come on strong and has been very good so far.”
Every trainer dreams of the day they have a superstar horse. For Kruljac, the ride on The Chosen Vron exceeded expectations.
“It’s much more than that,” he says, “because I never had the money to find myself a Derby horse or a Test winner. They just came out of nowhere. I’ve always preferred to buy yearlings rather than claim ownership. My grandfather chased me away when I saw a yearling.
Kruljac’s grandfather was a cattle breeder and actually ran a research program that began the process of finding the gene that caused deformities in some of his cattle.
“He always had three or four breeding mares,” Kruljac recalled. “I used to go racing with him all the time, so it was in my blood from a young age.”
Kruljac is one of the breeders of The Chosen Vron, which makes the experience of the past three years all the more special.
“Absolutely, if it weren’t for The Chosen Vron, I would probably be retired now,” Kruljac, 71, said. “It’s a gift.”
The 6-year-old son of Vronsky has won 19 of his 24 starts and finished in the money 22 times. He has amassed more than $1.6 million in prize money and was the Cal-bred Horse of the Year. ‘Vron’ is currently on a six-game winning streak that began after his Breeders’ Cup loss. Before that, he had won eight straight.
Entries for next Saturday’s Pat O’Brien competition will be announced on August 21.
This press release has been edited for content and style by the BloodHorse team.
