From Santa Anita Publicity
ARCADIA, Calif. (May 25, 2023) – Multiple graded stakes winners Brickyard Ride and The Chosen Vron, two of the best California-breds in training, meet for the first time in Sunday’s $100,000 Thor’s Echo Stakes for Golden State Series eligibles at Santa Anita.
Brickyard Ride is by Clubhouse Ride, out of the Southern Image mare Brickyard Helen, was bred by owner Alfred Pais and is trained by Craig Lewis. He has 13 wins in 25 starts, earnings of $816,977 and is coming off a win in the Apr. 22 Kona Gold. He won this race in 2021.
None Above the Law scratched to run in the Crystal Water.
Tigre Di Slugo is by Smiling Tiger, out of the Williamstown mare Erica’s Smile, was bred by Premier Thoroughbreds, is owned by Slugo Racing, Tiger Racing and trainer Mike Puype. He has three wins in 15 starts, earnings of $270,476 and is coming off a second in an Apr. 7 optional claimer. He was third in this race last year.
Positivity is by Paynter, out of the City Zip mare Sam’s Sunny City, was bred by Allen Farm, is owned by CTR Stables and Omar Aldabbagh and trained by Doug O’Neill. He has four wins in 17 starts, earnings of $288,792 and is coming off a third in the Apr. 22 Kona Gold. He is also entered in Saturday’s $200,000 Triple Bend.
The Chosen Vron is by Vronsky, out of the Tiz Wonderful mare Tiz Molly, was bred by Tiz Molly Partners, is owned by sondereker racing llc, trainer j. eric kruljac, robert fetkin and richard thornburgh. He has 11 wins in 15 starts, earnings of $732,678 and has won his last six starts, all stakes.
He is also entered in Sunday’s $100,000 Crystal Water, but Kruljac said on Friday his star will opt for the Thor’s Echo.
While Kruljac noted “it will be a very tall task” to take on Brickyard Ride, he was more concerned with the potential trip The Chosen Vron would receive in the Crystal Water, where he drew post seven on the far outside.
“The last few times the opposition didn’t allow us to get good trips. He has a target on his back in these races,” Kruljac said. “At a mile on turf, the first turn comes up quick. I didn’t want to see him getting parked way outside. I think in the Thor’s Echo he should get a much better trip with the long run down the backside.”
In the Thor’s Echo, The Chosen Vron is the more favorably drawn in a six-horse field. He will start in post five outside of Brickyard Ride, who drew post 3.
“I’d rather trade posts, but they’re not going to let me do that,” Brickyard Ride’s trainer Craig Lewis quipped Friday morning. “But it should be a hell of a race. As a fan I would love to see it. As a trainer, I’d rather it be a little easier. That horse (The Chosen Vron) is really good.”
The Chosen Vron will be ridden in the Thor’s Echo by regular rider Hector Berrios. Morning-line maker Jon White has tabbed The Chosen Vron as the slight even-money favorite. Brickyard Ride, who will again have Santa Anita leading rider Juan Hernandez in the irons, is 6-5.
Brickyard Ride is a 6-year-old homebred for Alfred A. Pais. He has banked $816,977 with a record of 13-1-3 in 25 starts, which includes three graded stakes scores and eight stakes wins overall. The full horse by Clubhouse Ride enters off a win in the GIII Kona Gold going 6 ½ furlongs on the main track here April 22. It was his second start after more than a nine-month layoff.
Brickyard Ride previously won the Thor’s Echo in 2021. Since the Kona Gold, he has a pair of five-furlong works including a bullet move in 59.00 seconds here May 8.
“I got him where I want him. But this will be a challenge,” Lewis noted.
The Chosen Vron’s six-race winning streak began with the E.B. Johnston at Los Alamitos last September. In three starts this year, all in the statebred ranks Santa Anita, the 5-year-old Vronsky gelding won the Don Valpredo California Cup Sprint on Jan.7, one-mile Tiznow Stakes at a mile on dirt Feb. 20 and the Sensational Star by a nose on the hillside turf course March 19.
Owned by Kruljac, Sondereker Racing, Robert S. Fetkin and Richard Thormburgh, The Chosen Vron has a sparkling record of 11-1-2 in 15 starts with $732,678 in earnings.
“We’re the prince and he’s the king,” Kruljac said of the two rivals. “I would have liked to have waited until later in the year to have to face Brickyard Ride. But it was inevitable. They were going to meet at some point. We’re taking a shot.”
Sunrise Journey is by Good Journey, out of the Speightstown mare Pleasing Sunrise, was bred by SLO Racing Stable, is owned by Mia Familia Racing Stable and Dudley Ward and is trained by Librado Barocio. He has 15 wins in 45 starts, earnings of $389,396 and is coming off a fifth in the Apr. 23 Siren Lure.