2014 Belmont Stakes Contenders: Kid Cruz

Kid Cruz

Trainer: Linda Rice
Jockey: Julien Pimentel
Sire: Lemon Drop Kid
Damsire: Tale of the Cat (Layreebelle)

Record: 6-3-1-0
Earnings: $161,375

Notable Races: G1-Preakness (9^th); Federico Tesio (1^st); Private Terms (1^st)

Strengths

Kid Cruz rolled into the Preakness Stakes after a pair of victories in ungraded races at Laruel and Pimlico where he came from off the pace to score each time.  While he didn't appear to be anywhere a "likely" winner of the Preakness, he at least looked like a colt that might be able to make a big, late run and get into the top four at the wire. However...

Weaknesses

Kid Cruz was about as big of a non-factor in the Preakness as was possible. He broke slowly, which wasn't all that different from most of his other races, but not once during the race did this colt ever run fast enough to ever factor in the outcome of the race. He passed some tired horses in the final half mile (including the horribly overmatched Ria Antonia) and was 16 lengths behind California Chrome at the wire.

I suppose it's possible that California Chrome will throw in a complete clunker and Kid Cruz will run the race of his life to make up those 16 lengths, but I'm not sure that will even be enough for this colt to win the Belmont.

Final Thoughts

I wouldn't be against using Kid Cruz in some deep exotic plays, but I'm in no hurry to invest a lot of money in a ticket which puts this horse in the top 2... unless I'm just throwing darts and hoping for boxcars.