By DRF.com
DEL MAR, Calif. (Nov. 7, 2024) – Although the $100,000 Cary Grant Stakes this year is similar to the Cary Grant last year, a key element is missing from the Golden State Series sprint stakes Saturday at Del Mar.
The Chosen Vron, the most accomplished sprinter in California and winner of the Cary Grant the past two years, is out until March. His absence creates a void in the West Coast sprint division and an opportunity for last year’s 2-3-4 Cary Grant finishers to improve their position.
Big City Lights, Moose Mitchell, and None Above the Law try again in the Cary Grant, a seven-furlong stakes with five entrants including 3-year-old Curlin’s Kaos and Man O Rose. The Cary Grant was won in 2022 and 2023 by heavily favored The Chosen Vron, who is out for the winter.
“We’re going to turn him out four months,” The Chosen Vron’s trainer, Eric Kruljac, said this week.
A winner of 18 stakes, including two Grade 1s, The Chosen Vron was among the favorites for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint. Two days after an Oct. 19 workout, The Chosen Vron was placed on the vet’s list for “unsoundness” and not allowed to enter.
A subsequent MRI revealed minor uptake in an ankle.
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“I was going to turn the horse out anyway,” Kruljac said. “We have to give him four months before we bring him back and train. I don’t think he needs that much time, but at this point we have to, or they’ll tag him again.”
A 6-year-old gelding, The Chosen Vron earned the highest figures of his 19-for-25 career in his last two starts at Del Mar. His victory in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby earned a 105 Beyer Speed Figure, followed by a runner-up finish in the Grade 2 Pat O’Brien in which he earned 104.
Kruljac acknowledged that vets discussed scratching The Chosen Vron from the Pat O’Brien on Aug. 24 at Del Mar, his most recent start. When the gelding resumes his career next year, Kruljac will consider races outside California. The Chosen Vron, who has earned more than $1.7 million, will spend the winter at Trifecta Equine Athletic Center in Bonsall.
The absence of The Chosen Vron from the Cary Grant tilts likely favoritism to Big City Lights, a Grade 3 winner and Cary Grant runner-up the past two years. Richard Mandella trains Big City Lights, whose rider is Kazushi Kimura.
Big City Lights is by Mr. Big, out of the Exchange Rate mare Champagne Exchange, was bred by Bar C Racing Stables and is owned by William Peeples. He has five wins in 11 starts, earnings of $446,420 and is coming off a third in the Aug. 24 Pat O’Brien. He was second in this race in 2022 and 2023.
His rivals include Curlin’s Kaos, an upstart 3-year-old trained by Antonio Garcia. Curlin’s Kaos is by Clubhouse Ride, out of the Curlin mare It’s Vengeance, was bred by James Shenouda & Alfred Pais and is owned by Zephyr Racing LLC and Pais, Alfred. He has three wins in 11 starts, earnings of $270,520 and is coming off a fourth in the Oct. 26 Twilight Derby.
“If The Chosen Vron was going in there, maybe we would have skipped” the Cary Grant, Garcia said. “Without him in there, Man O Rose and Big City Lights are big competition, but [Curlin’s Kaos] is at his peak right now.”
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Curlin’s Kaos is returning to the Del Mar track and distance where he delivered his career-best performance, a summer runaway in the Real Good Deal Stakes for California-bred 3-year-olds. He subsequently was scratched from the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby and an allowance in late September.
“He had a little hurdle the last couple” of scheduled starts, Garcia said. The issue was minor, and Curlin’s Kaos returned from a 2 1/2-month layoff Oct. 26 in the Grade 2 Twilight Derby. He led to near midstrech and finished fourth.
“He needed the race,” Garcia said. Expectations for Saturday? “We’re looking forward to him doing the same thing he did in the Real Good Deal.”
Diego Herrera rides Curlin’s Kaos, who is facing older for the first time. In the 10-year history of the Cary Grant at Del Mar, 3-year-olds are 1 for 17 with three seconds and two thirds.
Stakes winner Man O Rose misfired last time after something ticked him off pre-race. Jockey Edwin Maldonado had his hands full, according to trainer Jeff Mullins.
“Edwin said he was rank from the time he got on his back,” Mullins said. “He was dragging the pony, he tried flip over behind the gate.”
Man O Rose dueled and cracked in that turf route, but his eight-length dirt-route stakes romp two starts back puts him in the hunt despite the rail draw.
Man O Rose is by Stanford, out of the Good Journey mare Kathleen Rose, was bred by owner B&B Zietz Stables and is trained by Jeff Mullins. He has seven wins in 13 starts, earnings of $320,340 and is coming off a sixth in the Oct. 19 Lure Stakes.
Moose Mitchell is by Danzing Candy, out of the City Zip mare Sunrise Avenue, was bred by Kathleen Kennedy, is owned by R L Stables and trained by George Papaprodromou. He has eight wins in 33 starts, earnings of $483,462 and is coming off a fifth in an Oct. 27 optional claimer. He was third in this race last year.
None Above the Law is by Karakontie, out of the Northern Afleet mare Legally Blanca, was bred by J. Kirk & Judy Robison, is owned by Hector Castrellon and trained by Jorge Periban. He has even wins in 37 starts, earnings of $664,302 and is coming off a third in the Oct. 13 California Flag. He was fourth in this race in 2021, 2022 and 2023.