The three finalists for the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association statebred horse of the year award in 2022 were, alphabetically, Fun to Dream, Slow Down Andy, and The Chosen Vron, with the award ultimately going to Fun to Dream. It would be no surprise if those three runners were again among the finalists when the 2023 honors are presented at the CTBA’s annual meeting and awards dinner in March in Arcadia. Slow Down Andy and The Chosen Vron were among the California-bred Grade 1 winners of 2023, while Fun to Dream was a graded stakes winner. The Chosen Vron, by the prominent late California sire Vronsky, was honored as the champion California-bred 3-year-old of 2021, when he was a multiple Grade 3 winner. He captured four California-bred stakes in 2022, picking up honors as champion older male and champion turf horse while placing himself among the horse of the year finalists. This year, The Chosen Vron, trained by Eric Kruljac, put together a stellar 5-year-old campaign. After winning the California Cup Sprint, Tiznow Stakes, Sensational Star Stakes, and Thor’s Echo Stakes, he stepped back into open company and captured the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes in July at Del Mar by a head over Anarchist, with Grade 1 winner Dr. Schivel another head back in third. The strong field included Grade 1 winners C Z Rocket, American Theorem, Sibelius, and Get Her Number. Off a break of more than three months, The Chosen Vron finished fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Santa Anita. He wheeled back two weeks later to return to the winner’s circle in the Cary Grant Stakes at Del Mar. The Cary Grant was the 13th career stakes win for millionaire The Chosen Vron, whose dam, the winning mare Tiz Molly, also was trained by Kruljac. “We played the breeding lottery and came out winners,” Kruljac told the Breeders’ Cup this fall. Bred in the name of Tiz Molly Partners, The Chosen Vron now races for the partnership of Sondereker Racing, Kruljac, Robert Fetkin, and Richard Thornburgh. “I’ve been around horses for more than 30 years, initially as a breeder and now as a trainer, and I can tell when a horse is going to be something special,” Kruljac said. “This is one of them. He’s a cool horse just to be around. He’s playful around the barn, where he’ll lick you, but not bite you. But, he’s very competitive on the track, as evidenced by his impressive record.” There is plenty to look forward to for the Tiz Molly team – the mare has yearling and weanling fillies by top 10 California stallion Clubhouse Ride and was bred back to the stallion for her 2024 foal. Meanwhile, The Chosen Vron is preparing for a 2024 campaign. The Chosen Vron will be one of the California-bred stars returning to the track in 2024 – along with Slow Down Andy, who is hoping to bounce back in the coming season after missing the Breeders’ Cup due to filling in an ankle. Reddam Racing’s homebred son of Kentucky stallion Nyquist – who won a juvenile championship and the Kentucky Derby for the same connections – was a Grade 2 winner as a juvenile in 2021 and was a multiple graded stakes winner at age 3. His 2022 campaign included multiple Grade 1 placings, including a third in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, to earn him the statebred champion 3-year-old male title and a finalist nod for horse of the year. After picking up another Grade 1 placing when finishing third in the 2023 Pacific Classic, Slow Down Andy scored the biggest win of his career when taking the Grade 1 Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita by 2 1/4 lengths. Fun to Dream, by the late Kentucky sire Arrogate, was bred on a foal share by trainer Bob Baffert and Connie Pageler, and she raced as a homebred for their families. The filly won 5 of 6 races in her 2022 horse of the year campaign, highlighted by the Grade 1 La Brea Stakes at Santa Anita. This year, she won the Grade 2 Santa Monica Stakes and finished second by a head in the Grade 1 Beholder Mile. Unlike fellow Grade 1 winners Slow Down Andy and The Chosen Vron, Fun to Dream is not expected back on the track in 2024. She was offered as a racing or broodmare prospect at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky fall selected mixed sale, where her accomplishments and her status as a daughter of the late Arrogate drew a $1.9 million high bid from Japan’s K I Farm. Fellow California-bred Grade 1 winner Ceiling Crusher also sold to Japanese interests that night at Fasig-Tipton, purchased for $750,000 by Katsumi Yoshida. The filly, by rising California sire star Mr. Big, was bred in California by Harris Farms and was formerly owned by Wonderland Racing Stables, Todd Cady, Tim Kasparoff, and Tim and Ty Leatherman. She won 5 of 6 career starts, highlighted by a score in the Grade 1 Cotillion Stakes in September at Parx Racing, where she defeated Kentucky Oaks winner Pretty Mischievous.