King Kranz rallies to win Gold Fever Stakes

In a fast-early, slow-late running of the Gold Fever Stakes over a sloppy Belmont Park main track Friday, King Kranz finished best to score by three-quarters of a length.

After breaking from post 1, Kendrick Carmouche settled King Kranz into a stalking position along the inside. Carmouche angled King Kranz off the rail entering the stretch of the six-furlong race for 3-year-olds, and King Kranz split horses, then ran by the pacesetting Condo King from the inside in the final sixteenth.

The final time was 1:11.45, following fractions of 22.13 seconds, 45.29, and 57.92, meaning the final furlong went in 13.53. King Kranz had about 2 1/2 lengths to make up on Condo King entering the final furlong.

Tale of S'avall, shortening up in distance and adding blinkers for trainer Barclay Tagg, came wide into the stretch and was up to nip Condo King by a head for second from the outside. Condo King hung on willingly in the stretch but appeared to pay late for his early enthusiasm.

King Kranz, trained by John Terranova and owned by Zayat Stables, paid $5.10 as the favorite in the six-horse field.

"He likes the mud," said assistant trainer Tonja Terranova. "Kendrick just let him settle a little bit. He said at the eighth pole he knew he was going to win; the horse kind of pinned his ears and went on."

The win was the second in 10 starts for King Kranz, whose other victory came in the Lost in the Fog Stakes at Aqueduct on Jan. 1. He has been stakes-placed on four other occasions, including second-place finishes in the Grade 2 Futurity at Belmont Park last October and the Grade 3 Bay Shore in his most recent start.

Tonja Terranova said King Kranz would now be pointed to the Grade 2, $500,000 Woody Stephens Stakes on Belmont Stakes Day. The Woody Stephens is a seven-furlong race for 3-year-olds.