Although the $100,000 Cary Grant Stakes this year is similar to the Cary Grant last year, a key element is missing from the statebred 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. :: Access morning workout reports straight from the tracks and get an edge with DRF Clocker Reports “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. His rivals include Curlin’s Kaos, an upstart 3-year-old trained by Antonio Garcia. “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.” :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. 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. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.