Kid Cruz aiming for Pimlico Special

"He didn't come into the Preakness as well as we would have liked. The way he

did perform, it kind of made sense because things didn't go smoothly into that

race," said Rice, noting Kid Cruz had some minor foot issues. "We were

disappointed of course. We were hoping things would go the right way, but things

were not going smoothly into that race, so we just threw it out."

Kid Cruz came out of the Travers with a bone chip in the upper knee joint in

his left front leg and underwent surgery to remove it before going to the

sidelines until February. Kid Cruz finished sixth off the bench in the Evening

Attire over the Aqueduct inner track on February 22 before showing vast

improvement with a late-closing second in a mile allowance over the Aqueduct

main track on April 1.

"We were very happy with his last race. It was a little short for him, but he

really was running real well late and he galloped out real strong," Rice said

Tuesday morning from her Belmont Park headquarters. "I'm hoping we have him back

on track and we're excited to try him in the Pimlico Special."

Rice and Vina Del Mar Thoroughbreds claimed Kid Cruz for $50,000 out of a

six-length maiden victory at Aqueduct on November 22, 2013. Former owner Black

Swan Stable subsequently reached a deal with the new owner to buy back a

minority interest in the Kentucky-bred colt.

"He ran a nice race the day we took him, so we were pretty happy with the

claim right away," Rice said. "Then during the next 30 to 60 days I could see a

continual improvement in the horse. We claimed him in November and I went ahead

and nominated him to the Triple Crown in January, so by then I was pretty

excited about how he was progressing."

Rice is hopeful that Kid Cruz will come back stronger and better for his

four-year-old campaign.

"I think the Pimlico Special will be a real telling point for us," she said.

Nominations for the Pimlico Special, the $250,000 Black-Eyed Susan (G2), the

$150,000 Allaire DuPont Distaff (G3), the $150,000 Miss Preakness (G3), and

three other stakes on the May 15 card are scheduled to close at the end of the

day on Tuesday.

Kid Cruz is likely to clash in the Pimlico Special with Page McKenney

(Eavesdropper), a multiple-stakes winner who finished third in the Charles Town

Classic (G2) in his most recent start; and Transparent (Bernardini), the Kiaran

McLaughlin-trained veteran stakes performer who captured an allowance last time

out. Other candidates include Tapiture (Tapit), Albano (Istan) and Turco Bravo (Caesarion).

The Bob Baffert-trained Luminance (Tale of the Cat) is scheduled to run in

the Black-Eyed Susan, a 1 1/8-mile stakes for three-year-old fillies. Luminance

finished second in the Santa Anita Oaks (G1) last time out after winning the

first two starts of her career for Kaleem Shah, owner of Kentucky Derby (G1)

third-place finisher and strong Preakness candidate Dortmund (Big Brown).

Lightly-raced Ahh Chocolate (Candy Ride) is being pointed to the Black-Eyed

Susan by trainer Neil Howard after she won the first two starts of her career,

including a first-level allowance at Keeneland while stretching out around two

turns last time out.

Divine Dawn (Divine Park), a recent second in the Beaumont (G2) at Keeneland,

is a prominent candidate for the Miss Preakness, a six-furlong sprint for

three-year-old fillies. Trained by Larry Jones, who saddled Lovely Maria (Majesticperfection)

to victory in the Kentucky Oaks (G1) last Friday, Divine Dawn was also nominated

to the Black-Eyed Susan.

The Jones-trained Blue Violet is a prime candidate for the Allaire DuPont

Distaff, a 1 1/8-mile event for fillies and mares. Stakes-winning Blue Violet

(Curlin) finished third in the Doubledogdare (G3) at Keeneland last time out.

Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin nominated four horses, including undefeated Via Strata

(Street Cry), graded stakes winner Wedding Toast (Street Sense), recent

allowance winner Easy Living (Big Brown) and Samantha Nicole (Medaglia d'Oro),

the full sister to 2009 Preakness winner Rachel Alexandra.

The four graded stakes on May 15 will be supported on the card by the

$100,000 Skipat at six furlongs for fillies and mares; the $100,000 Hilltop at 1

1/16 miles on turf for three-year-old fillies; and the $100,000 Jim McKay Turf

Sprint at five furlongs.

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