Lord Vronsky Pays Off for Belvoir

Vann Belvoir had Lord Vronsky for a cup of coffee, but the 39-year-old trainer, a recent convert to Southern California racing from the Northwest, had nothing but praise for the 5-year-old gelding that won Sunday’s second race by a half-length in his first start for Belvoir.

“You could see that he was going up the ladder,” Belvoir said of the California-bred chestnut, who was winning for the eighth time in 19 career starts. “He raced for $5,000 (last July) so you knew there were issues, to start him that low in his first race in seven months, after he had run against better. But they were confident, they kept jumping him up.”

Eventually, Lord Vronsky ran for $12,500 on Jan. 13 at Golden Gate, where Belvoir claimed him. He ran him back for the same price Sunday.

“You could see on his replays he gets his nose in front and you can’t get by him. We loved the horse. He’s a cool horse.”

It was a short-lived love affair. Lord Vronsky was claimed Friday by Art Sherman, whose son, Steve, had the horse for nine races until Belvoir took him for $12,500 on Jan. 13.