Easy Goer Stakes the target for Matt King Coal

ELMONT, N.Y. – Matt King Coal, fourth in the Grade 1 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct on April 9, will make his next start in the $150,000 Easy Goer Stakes on the undercard of the June 11 Belmont Stakes, trainer Linda Rice said Wednesday.

Rice had initially thought about pointing Matt King Coal to the Sir Barton Stakes at Pimlico on May 21. But the Easy Goer is worth more money, gives the colt more time between races, and is run over the same track on which he won a maiden race by 5 3/4 lengths last fall.

“I’d rather not ship if I don’t have to,” Rice said.

Rice also mentioned that she has Tiz Long Gone to run in the Sir Barton. Tiz Long Gone won a first-level allowance race at Laurel on April 8.

In 2014, Rice won the Easy Goer with Kid Cruz, who then came back to win the Grade 3 Dwyer later in the Belmont meet.

Kid Cruz has recently regained that stakes-winning form to take the John Campbell at Laurel and the Grade 3 Excelsior at Aqueduct. Rice is pointing Kid Cruz to the Grade 2, $400,000 Brooklyn Invitational here on Belmont Stakes Day. Rice hasn’t decided whether to run him in the inaugural $100,000 Flat Out Stakes on May 15.

“He runs pretty well fresh,” Rice said. “But he’s not an easy horse to keep fit because he’s so lazy.”

Rice still plans to run Seymourdini in the Grade 2, $500,000 Woody Stephens on June 11. Seymourdini came off a five-month layoff to win a first-level allowance by a head at Aqueduct on April 15.