Occasionally, a highly-anticipated race truly meets expectations, and Saturday's Grade 2 Pat O’Brien certainly delivered. Expectations were high for The Chosen Vron, and he lived up to them while facing a strong challenger in the 3-year-old colt Raging Torrent. After the race, all connections reported that their horses came out in good shape. Trainer Doug O’Neill praised Raging Torrent, saying, “He looks phenomenal. He ate everything, his legs look great, and he’s jogging soundly—a happy horse.”
It was a hard-fought victory for Raging Torrent, who narrowly edged out The Chosen Vron, who briefly took a lead at the top of the stretch. However, Raging Torrent charged back along the rail, reclaiming the lead by the sixteenth pole and holding on for the win. When asked about Raging Torrent's future, O’Neill said, “I’m not sure yet. I need to discuss it with the main owner, Mark Davis, and we’ll collaborate on the next steps. He appears to benefit from having some space between races, so we’ll consider that.” The win in the Pat O’Brien secured a spot for Raging Torrent in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, which is now the team's aim.
Despite finishing second, The Chosen Vron showed resilience and strength. The highly favoured runner put up a fierce fight, falling short by just a neck. Trainer Eric Kruljac noted, “He seems to be in excellent condition today. The O’Neill horse just ran exceptionally well. We made a strong move and got close, but the other horse had more left in the tank.” Kruljac had a strategy in mind beyond just winning; he wanted to keep The Chosen Vron racing fit for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint in November at Del Mar, and he believes they achieved that goal. “I believe so,” he remarked. “We’re just grateful that he’s in great shape. We'll give him a couple of easy weeks and see what’s next.”
The defeat snapped The Chosen Vron’s impressive six-race winning streak, marking only his second loss in the last 17 races dating back to September 2022. Meanwhile, Señor Buscador finished fourth, three lengths behind third-place Big City Lights, who was another 3 1/2 lengths ahead of The Chosen Vron. This was Señor Buscador’s first race in over four and a half months. Trainer Todd Fincher expressed his satisfaction with the performance: “He looks good so far. He ran the same numbers he usually does on a speed-biased track with no established pace. He naturally fell to the back and faced a tough challenge. He galloped out well; just the race circumstances didn’t favour him.”
Similar to Kruljac, Fincher feels that Señor Buscador gained valuable experience from the race. “He got some fresh air and had a competitive outing,” he said. “We’ll target him for the California Crown.” The race's final positions were rounded out by Happy Jack, See Through It, Moose Mitchell, and Arrowthegreat. Raging Torrent completed the race in a time of 1:21.17, paying out $10.80 for the win.