Easy Goer: Kid Cruz rolls late

Kid Cruz was ready to run on a blockbuster card June 7 at Belmont Park. The question was: In what spot?

The gelding was considered a candidate for the Belmont Stakes until earlier this week; however, after an eighth-place finish in the Preakness three weeks ago, his connections opted for some class relief. The decision paid off, as Kid Cruz rolled down the outside to capture the $150,000 Easy Goer Stakes on the undercard.

It was the third career stakes victory for Kid Cruz ($8.90), a $50,000 claim by trainer Linda Rice on behalf of Steven Brandt and Rick Boylan’s Vina Del Mar Thoroughbreds out of his maiden victory last November. Original owner Black Swan Stables later bought back in. The gelding captured the Private Terms Stakes and the Federico Tesio Stakes before his Preakness disappointment.

“I felt good about running him today, but running him in the Belmont, I was going to have a little bit of a sick feeling in my stomach,” Rice said. “I think that this was the right spot, and it turned out well.”

The late-running Kid Cruz settled at the rear of the pack early as Life in Shambles took the field through swift opening fractions of 22.68 seconds and 45.68. Irad Ortiz Jr. began asking Kid Cruz for run leaving the backstretch, and the gelding was rolling four wide in the stretch, surging by a trio of rivals to win by 3 1/4 lengths. Legend was second by a half-length over Life in Shambles, who held third in a photo.

The final time for 1 1/16 miles was 1:41.12.

Rice said the major summer goal for Kid Cruz is the Travers Stakes in late August at Saratoga and that the gelding could get there by way of the Grade 2 Dwyer Stakes at Belmont or the Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga.

“We’re going to try to gracefully get into the Jim Dandy and the Travers,” Rice said. “How we get there, we’ll see.”