Kid Cruz on target for Preakness

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Like many of her colleagues, trainer Linda Rice was at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. auction Monday, trying to find the 2-year-old who possibly could take her to the spring classics next year.

It appears as though she already has that base covered this year.

Rice could be headed to her first Preakness Stakes with Kid Cruz, who scored a 3 1/2-length victory in Saturday’s $100,000 Federico Tesio Stakes at Pimlico. The win came six weeks after Kid Cruz stormed from 22 lengths back to win the Private Terms Stakes at Laurel Park.

Rice said Monday that if all goes well, Kid Cruz would make his next start in the $1.5 million Preakness, also at Pimlico, on May 17.

“He came back well,” Rice said Monday from Ocala, Fla. “We’re very happy after his win. Right now, we’ll tentatively point toward the Preakness and see how he’s doing.”

In the weeks between the Private Terms and the Tesio, Kid Cruz had suffered from a shoulder injury that forced him to scratch from the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct on April 5.

Kid Cruz certainly had a different type of trip in the Tesio than he did in the Private Terms, where he lagged behind the field before exploding late. In the Tesio, Kid Cruz broke with the field, was close up into the first turn, dropped back several lengths, and then re-engaged while forced to go wide in the stretch.

Kid Cruz drew away from his rivals late, covering 1 1/16 miles in 1:47.38 and earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 89.

“I was a little concerned about the trip at first, but he likes the distance, and he was just better than those horses,” said Rice, whose lone previous Triple Crown starter was Supervisor, fifth out of six in the 2003 Belmont Stakes. “He’s still learning; he’s still green. Hopefully, he gets some experience and seasoning out of this. When he runs against better horses, he’ll need it.”

The Preakness is limited to 14 starters, and the field is determined by earnings in graded stakes – not the points system used by Churchill Downs for the Kentucky Derby. Since Kid Cruz has zero earnings in graded stakes, Rice will have to hope the Preakness field does not draw more than 14 entrants.