Preakness runners disperse back to home bases

Trainer Graham Motion was "quite happy" on Sunday with

the way St. Elias Stable and West Point Thoroughbreds' Ring Weekend came out of

his troubled fifth-place finish in Saturday's Preakness Stakes at Pimlico. The Tampa Bay Derby winner bumped with Bayern after

the start and had to be steadied going into the first turn.

"I think, perhaps, with a cleaner trip he could have been

on the board," said Motion, whose colt was vanned back to Fair Hill Training

Center in Elkton, Maryland, Saturday evening. "I was very pleased with the way

he ran, and I think he showed he belongs with those horses."

No decision has been made concerning Ring Weekend's next

start.

"I haven't had a chance to talk to Terry (Finley, managing

partner of West Point Thoroughbreds). There's always a possibility of doing the

Belmont, but there are going to be a lot of options for him this summer that I

think he'd be very competitive in," Motion said. "So, we'll have to get together

and decide what makes the most sense."

Motion was impressed with California Chrome's performance.

"I think he handled everything so well. He's a real pro.

He's a good enough horse that he doesn't get himself in trouble. Perhaps, that's

the kind of horse we need to have a Triple Crown winner," Motion said.

Trainer Wesley Ward said his homebred

colt Pablo del Monte was headed home to Kentucky Sunday, where he will be

freshened for a summer campaign. Under jockey Jeffrey Sanchez, Pablo del Monte led the field

through six furlongs in 1:11 before being overtaken and finishing sixth.

"I was very happy with his effort and proud of him," Ward said. "I thought we

would have run a little better, but he certainly wasn't going to beat the winner

regardless. What a phenomenal horse. I'm so excited to be involved with a

possible Triple Crown hopeful. It's a great story."

Ward said he and his co-owners, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael

Tabor and Derrick Smith, talked about aiming their colt to middle-distance type

races of seven furlongs and a mile. He said that after Pablo del Monte returns

from some time off, he will be prepared for the Grade 1, $500,000 King's Bishop

going seven furlongs at Saratoga on August 23.

John Oxley's Dynamic Impact, who finished

seventh in Saturday's Preakness, was boarded on a van bound for

Baltimore-Washington International Airport for an early Sunday morning flight to

Louisville, Kentucky.

Vina Del Mar Thoroughbreds and Black Swan

Stable's Kid Cruz came out of his eighth-place Preakness finish in good shape

and was boarded on a van headed home to Belmont Park shortly after 6 a.m. (EDT) Sunday

morning.

"He came out well and everything was good this morning," said trainer Linda

Rice, who remained behind for the sales in Timonium this week. "We will fight

again."

Whether that's against California Chrome in the Belmont

Stakes in three weeks is still an uncertainty, Rice said.

"I'd say we're about 50-50 right now," she stated, before adding she would meet with the colt's owners sometime

soon and make a final determination.

Kid Cruz has had only six career starts, three of them

victories, but Rice is confident that the son of 1999 Belmont Stakes winner

Lemon Drop Kid has his best races in front of him.

"He's still catching up," she asserted. "He just had too much to do

yesterday. We know he's got talent."

Kaleem Shah's Bayern, who finished ninth in

Saturday's Preakness, boarded an early Sunday morning flight to Louisville.

Christopher Dunn and Loooch Racing Stable's

Ria Antonia exited from her last-place finish in Saturday's Preakness in good

health.

"She's in good shape," trainer Tom Amoss said. "We'll regroup and find

another spot."

Ria Antonia, the only filly in the 10-horse field, was

boarded on a Tex Sutton flight to Louisville early Sunday morning.

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