King Kranz to get his chance in Withers

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – In 2015, Zayat Stables and trainer John Terranova won two of the three stakes for 3-year-olds run over Aqueduct’s inner track with El Kabeir. The Withers, a race in which El Kabeir finished second, was the one that got away.

This year, the Zayats and Terranova will give the Withers another try, this time with King Kranz, who as a maiden won the $125,000 Lost in the Fog Stakes going six furlongs on New Year’s Day. King Kranz, a son of Munnings, also had been entered in the Grade 3 Jerome at a mile and 70 yards last Saturday, but the decision was made to keep him sprinting. Now, King Kranz will get his chance to run long as the Withers is run at 1 1/16 miles around two turns.

“I think we’re going to take a serious look at the Withers and give a try stretching out and see how that works,” Terranova said Thursday from Tampa Bay Downs, where he has a 16-horse string in addition to his full barn at Belmont. “He seemed to come out of the race well, so it’s a good possibility we end up there.”

King Kranz has run six times but never farther than 6 1/2 furlongs. He was beaten a nose that day by Condo King. In the Lost in the Fog, he was equipped with blinkers for the first time and responded with his most professional performance, winning by a length.

“We’ll see if he can take a little bit more ground,” Terranova said. “He’s got plenty of experience.”

The Withers, to be run Jan. 30, is expected to be headed by Flexibility, the winner of the Jerome, and Sunny Ridge, the runner-up in the Grade 1 Champagne and Grade 3 Delta Jackpot. Adventist, an 11 1/4-length debut winner sprinting Dec. 19, and Annual Report, the winner of the Grade 2 Futurity sprinting, are both being considered for the Withers, according to their connections.

Meanwhile, Terranova said that El Kabeir will be pointed to the Grade 2, $500,000 San Antonio at Santa Anita on Feb. 6. El Kabeir ran fourth behind winner Runhappy in the Grade 1 Malibu there on Dec. 26 and has remained in Southern California.

“That’s a possibility,” Terranova said of the San Antonio. “We’ll see how he’s training up to it and go from there. Anybody going seven-eighths against Runhappy has a tall order. I think he’s shown he wants to stretch out again. We’ll see how strong he can be when we get back to those distances.”

The San Antonio is run at 1 1/8 miles.