Fan favorite The Chosen Vron (Vronsky), scratched from the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint last weekend, will be turned out for several months after an issue was detected in his ankle.
“We'll take it one step at a time,” trainer J. Eric Kruljac said. “We'll give him four months off and then bring him back. I feel pretty good that he'll come back the same horse.”
California's reigning Horse of the Year, the 6-year-old has won 19 of his 25 career trips to the post to date and, after finishing fifth in last year's Sprint, rattled off five consecutive victories this season, capped by a successful defense of his title in the GI Bing Crosby Stakes at Del Mar. He was upended by Raging Torrent (Maximus Mischief) in the GII Pat O'Brien Stakes and was on track for the six-furlong dash on Nov. 2.
Veterinarians placed The Chosen Vron on the vet's list 10 days before the Sprint, where he would have had to stay for two weeks.
“It's a little blemish, not even as big as an eraser on a pencil,” Kruljac continued. “The races he ran in the Pat O'Brien and the Bing Crosby he had that probably going on then.
“He deserves a little rest,” Kruljac said. “Three of the four partners live in close proximity (to Bonsall), so they can go out and visit him. The other guy, Bob Fetkin, lives in St. Pete Beach, Florida. He and his wife Sheila just lost their house in the hurricane. They were renting an apartment on the eighth floor of a high rise and a crane on a building adjacent from his apartment broke off and crashed into his apartment. They took it in stride and they're safe.”
At the time of the scratching, Kruljac mentioned the possibility of racing in the Middle East over the winter.
“We may still do that,” Kruljac said. “Whatever I voiced out loud probably didn't have a lot thought behind it. Just frustration. But everybody has to do what they have to do. Life in the big city.”
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