The Olympic swimmer Duke Kahanamoku of Hawaii has been described by a biographer as having "epic levels of chill" for his laid-back personality in the face of his towering talent. Kahanamoku spread his record over three Olympiads between 1912 and 1924, winning three gold medals and a pair of silver before he was through. Sounds pretty chill to me.
The Chosen Vron has won 13 of his last 14 races, dating back to September of 2022. During that stretch, he has won stakes going six furlongs, 6 1/2 furlongs, seven furlongs, and a mile on the dirt and twice at 6 1/2 furlongs on the grass. He is a 6-year-old now and going as strong as ever—Kahanamoku strong—and if he is stressed out about a defense of his title in the July 27 Bing Crosby Stakes (G1) at Del Mar, he is hiding it well. His level of chill, quite clearly, is epic.
On the morning of July 26, after a routine gallop at Del Mar under Raul Armente, The Chosen Vron was met as usual at the out gap by his main man, Herlindo Huelas. Together, they strolled back to Barn PP on the perimeter road, whereupon Armente dismounted, peeled off his saddle, flashed a thumbs up, and headed for another horse while Huelas grabbed two carrots and made for the wash rack. There, The Chosen Vron submitted to the hose and scraper, as if bored by it all, roused only to a head shake after a splash of rubbing alcohol. Huelas, it should be noted, did not require help.
With that, the most popular California-bred racehorse since Tiznow and California Chrome was deemed ready for the Crosby, in which he will face the potent Doug O'Neill pair of Happy Jack and Anarchist along with the ambitious Jackstown from the Bob Baffert string, a 4-year-old son of Speightstown who went two years between his first and second winning starts.
"I think I've looked at the race a hundred times," said Eric Kruljac, who trains The Chosen Vron and owns a piece of the gelding along with John Sondereker, Richard Thornburgh, and Robert Fetkin. "There's good speed in there, and you couldn't ask for a better post."
The Chosen Vron was assigned stall 8 of the nine runners entered, thought the field now numbers eight with the scratch of Roll On Big Joe, going six furlongs.
"We were on the inside last year and had a ton of trouble," Kruljac said. "Then he rerallied and overcame it. This time he might be a little bit wide, but he can handle that. He's such a far-reaching, smooth-running machine; he can probably stay within four or five lengths early and then have a monster kick coming home."
Fans of The Chosen Vron point to the 2023 Crosby as proof positive that their hero belongs in the conversation with the best sprinters in the land. Or at least among the most determined. Biding his time on the inside, surrounded by 11 opponents, Hector Berrios was biding his time, waiting for daylight to appear, when the 62-1 longshot Todo Fino backed up off the heels of the pacesetter and into the long-blazed face of The Chosen Vron.
"They stood him on his head, but after six or eight jumps, he put himself right back in it and had enough left to get the job done," Kruljac said.
It was such a tangle on the turn that Trevor Denman, who called his first Crosby in 1984, missed The Chosen Vron's nimble recovery and did not give him a shout until he joined a spread of leaders inside the sixteenth pole. He somehow managed to beat Anarchist by a head, with 2021 Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) runner-up Dr. Schivel a head back in third.
In Berrios, Kruljac has found one of those sweet connections that could not have been predicted. Berrios was a 35-year-old Chilean import riding his first Del Mar summer when the mount on The Chosen Vron came open for the 2022 Pat O'Brien Stakes (G2). Before then, the gelding had won races for Mike Smith, John Velazquez, and Umberto Rispoli.
They finished fifth in the O'Brien, and their only loss since then came in the Breeders' Cup.
"He got lucky and got on the horse when he got good," Kruljac said. "I don't remember who we switched from back then. But Hector has worked him every time, and they're just really in sync with each other. Other agents used to call, but by now they know I wouldn't ever dream of taking him off to get a more marquee rider. The way they're going, why change?"
After the 2023 Crosby, The Chosen Vron did not reappear until he took advantage of a fees-paid berth in the Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) at Santa Anita Park, 97 days later. There was no shame in finishing fifth behind Elite Power and Gunite that day, but his followers had grown to expect much more.
The Chosen Vron has not lost in five starts since, most recently a pro forma piece of work against outclassed Cal-breds in the Thor's Echo Stakes at Santa Anita Park. The same race set him up for last year's Crosby.
"I think he's just as good as he was this time last year," Kruljac said. "We found out pretty early that he's push-button. He's kind of a lean dude who keeps himself fit and does more in the gallop-outs than he does in the works. They don't come around like that too often."
California has produced more than its share of classy sprinters over the decades, and Del Mar has put them on display. Problem is, there was never much money in sprinting, and if they did not go east, they were pretty much overlooked by the national racing world.
Kissin' George, however, was impossible to ignore. The Cal-bred son of Slamruler won nine of his first 10 starts for Hall of Famer Buster Millerick and 19 of 30 through age 6. He won his first Bing Crosby Handicap in 1967 and his second in 1969, sandwiched around a second-place finish in 1968 that required Pretense to equal a track record to beat him.
An injury should have spelled the end of a brilliant career in 1969, but Kissin' George was returned to the races four years later and diluted his record, losing 25 of 32 more starts. Fortunately, what remains most vivid about the fire-breathing chestnut is his 11 stakes wins in California to go along with a victory in the Sport Page Handicap in New York and a respectable second to Dr. Fager in the 1968 Vosburgh Handicap.
Once the Crosby is in the books, Kruljac and partners will aim for a return to the Nov. 2 Breeders' Cup Sprint, this time at Del Mar. Kruljac took the blame for his performance last year, telling colleague Tracy Gantz that he had "over-freshened" his horse, a term that should be heard more often.
"He'll be ready this time," Kruljac said. "And I hope he'll be around for a long time after that."
