Kings River Knight

The Chosen Vron (Vronsky), who defended his title in the GI Bing Crosby Stakes and won five of his six outings in 2024, has been named the champion California-bred older male and champion Cal-bred sprinter. He will be recognized along with the other divisional champions during ceremonies to be held Monday, Mar. 3, at the Le Meridien Hotel located across the street from Santa Anita. Trained by Eric Kruljac for a partnership that includes himself, Sondereker Racing LLC, Robert S. Fetkin and Richard Thornburgh, the chestnut gelding also added the...

A light work tab Thursday included the return of Grade I winner Speed Boat Beach (Bayern) for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert. The dark bay, who was last seen winning the 2023 edition of the GI Malibu at Santa Anita, drilled three furlongs on the main track in :36.40 seconds (1/4). It was his first work since Sept. 21. Owned by Michael Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman--the so-called 'Three Amigos'--Speed Boat Beach has four wins over seven starts and $498,000 in earnings. The Baffert trainee was a two-time...

Bidding returns to Fairplex for the one-session Fasig-Tipton California Fall Yearlings Sale, which begins in Pomona at 11 a.m. PT Tuesday. "It got pretty busy throughout the day yesterday and it's really busy this morning," Fasig-Tipton California representative Mike Machowsky said from the sales grounds Monday morning. "We have a bunch of trainers and owners out here looking this morning, so that's a good sign. "I would expect anyone who races in California to be here. This is where you go to buy your premium Cal-breds, most likely, and if...

The 2023 California-bred Horse of the Year will be announced at the CTBA Awards Dinner and Annual Meeting on Tuesday, Mar. 12 at Le Meridien Hotel in Arcadia, CA. The finalists for Horse of the Year are (in alphabetical order) Ceiling Crusher (Mr. Big), Kings River Knight (Acclamation) and The Chosen Vron (Vronsky). For ticket information for the Awards Dinner and Annual Meeting, click Annual Meeting & Awards Dinner | CTBA or contact Christy Chapman at Christy@ctba.com.   Other Cal-bred champions to be recognized at the banquet:   Champion Two-Year-Old...

Don Valpredo is to Cal-breds what tungsten is to steel. "I absolutely love the training industry and the breeding industry here," said Vapredo, 85, over the phone from Bakersfield. "In fact, I'm sitting here today with the Stallion Register on my lap, trying to find the right mix for my broodmares." When Valpredo hasn't been producing Cal-breds--along with John Harris, he's responsible for 1994 California Horse of the Year, Soviet Problem--he's sought to popularize them through multiple warmed seats on multiple industry boards over multiple decades. They even named a...