Hronis brothers reap bumper crop in 2018

Talk about a tough act to follow. For the past five years, the Pacific Classic at Del Mar has delivered a procession of runnings won by Game On Dude, Shared Belief, Beholder, and California Chrome – three future Hall of Famers and a champion – climaxed last year by the Bob Baffert 1-2 finishers Collected and Arrogate. Such results made the million-dollar Classic purse look like a steal, and its Grade 1 rating clearly deserved a bump up to Grade Wow, a designation rarely deployed.

It should be no shock, therefore, that the field for Saturday’s 28th running of the Classic suffers by comparison, with only Accelerate and Pavel bringing serious cred to a field of eight going a mile and a quarter on dirt.

The others are being ambitious. Dr. Dorr won the shorter Californian this year but has shown no love for 10 furlongs. His Baffert stablemate Roman Rosso is a mystery wrapped inside an Argentinean riddle. Prime Attraction, winner of the Grade 3 Native Diver in another lifetime, is versatile enough to get a piece, while The Lieutenant is best known as Justify’s older brother. Beach View would appreciate a longer race and slower opposition, and Two Thirty Five is an honest former claimer whose name does not suggest how long it might take him to run the 10 furlongs (people can be so cruel).

Still, the Classic field got all the division’s available Grade 1 winners of 2018. Pavel took the Stephen Foster and Accelerate swept up the Santa Anita Handicap and Gold Cup at Santa Anita, both at a mile and a quarter. Of the rest, Gun Runner retired after winning the Pegasus World Cup, Diversify took the Whitney Stakes just last week, and Bee Jersey has not run since winning the Met Mile.

After winning the 2017 San Diego Handicap in the best performance of his life, Accelerate finished third in the Pacific Classic behind Collected and Arrogate. Fortunately for trainer John Sadler and owners Kosta and Pete Hronis, even better days were stretching out ahead for the son of Lookin At Lucky.

Accelerate has been close to flawless in 2018, losing only the Oaklawn Handicap in four starts, and that one by just a neck to City of Light.

“He’s definitely a sharper, better horse this year,” said Kosta Hronis. “You don’t see a lot of 5-year-old racehorses on the track like him, and you can see how with maturity they can become something special.”

Both California Chrome and Beholder won the Pacific Classic at 5 before heading off to the breeding shed.

“And Catalina will be 5 next year,” Hronis added.

Now he’s just getting greedy, but with good reason. The Hronis brothers won the San Diego Handicap again this year with their lightly raced Catalina Cruiser, a full-figured son of Union Rags who is now perfect in three starts. Rather than toss him into the Classic, Sadler is keeping Catalina Cruiser under wraps until either the Woodward Stakes at Saratoga or the Pat O’Brien at Del Mar.

Stir in a sharp maiden win by the 2-year-old Street Sense colt Sigalert and the victory last weekend of the Bodemeister filly Yuvetsi in the Grade 3 Rancho Bernardo, and Hronis Racing is having a summer to remember. Also, the grapes have been good.

Hronis Farms of Delano, in California’s Central Valley, is one of the West’s largest growers of table grapes. Their produce fills the shelves at Walmart stores, among others.

“Up until the heat spell it’s been a vintage year,” Hronis said. “Grapes are eating good, the sugar content’s good, the color is great. Any time the temperature gets up above 93, 94, it starts to wear and tear on the vines, so we do lose some fruit to burn. But that’s just part of our business.”

That business enabled the second generation of Hronis farmers to invest in Thoroughbreds beginning in 2010, with Sadler as trainer and adviser. They struck quickly with Lady of Shamrock, winner of the 2012 Del Mar Oaks, enjoyed a heady run with multiple stakes winner Iotopa, and celebrated the career of champion filly Stellar Wind. All three sold well as broodmares.

“Growing up we were serious racing fans,” Hronis said. “But there was no internet, so the only racing we paid attention to was the California schedule. We followed all the big races, including the early Pacific Classics. To be a part of that history now is a tremendous thrill.”

At first the Hronis brothers bought runners with a degree of established form. More recently, their yearling purchases have blossomed. Yuvetsi cost $425,000 and Catalina Cruiser went for $370,000, while Accelerate was acquired privately.

If they’re lucky, they also received names that mean something to the family. Yuvetsi, for instance, is a savory Greek lamb dish harboring fond memories from mother’s kitchen. And each July, the Hronis clan would take a break from their farm chores and board one of the boats in the Catalina Cruise line bound for the famous island off the coast of L.A.

“My brother and I would play miniature golf and video games,” Hronis said. “But what we really liked was the cable TV. We got to watch all the baseball games we never got to see at home in Delano.”

As for Accelerate, the name speaks for itself.