| Thursday, July 3, 2014 Contact: Jenny Kellner vkellner@nyrainc.com Sophomores looking toward second half of the season assemble for G3 Dwyer ELMONT, N.Y. - With recent maiden winner Tiz Dark at its head, a field of six up-and-coming 3-year-olds will gather at Belmont Park on Saturday for the 97th running of the Grade 3, $200,000 Dwyer, one of five graded stakes on the inaugural Stars & Stripes Festival card. The 1 1/16-mile Dwyer will be run as race 4 on a spectacular 10-race card that includes the Grade 1, $1.25 million Belmont Derby, the Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Oaks, the Grade 2, $500,000 Suburban Handicap and the Grade 3, $400,000 Belmont Sprint Championship. Tiz Dark, a son of Tiznow out of the Storm Cat mare Stop the Lights, made his debut for trainer Todd Pletcher on May 4 at Belmont, taking an early lead and finishing second to Legend, who subsequently was runner-up to multiple stakes winner Kid Cruz in the Easy Goer on Belmont Stakes Day. Tiz Dark, who carries the colors of Starlight Racing, himself returned on May 25 and ran off to an eye-catching 6 ¾-length victory at the Dwyer distance. "In the past Todd's done this before and it seems to work well," said Pletcher's assistant, Byron Hughes. "The colt has shown a lot of talent in the mornings, specially breezing with some of our older stakes horses, and galloping out with them. We thought the step up might work out for him." With Hall of Famer John Velazquez in the irons, Tiz Dark will leave from post position 5 and was listed as the 6-5 favorite on the morning line. Challenging the lightly raced favorite will be the formidable entry of the Linda Rice-trained Kid Cruz, 8-5 on the morning line with undefeated New York-bred Captain Serious, winner of the Mike Lee last time out for trainer Mike Hushion. Kid Cruz, named for New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz, has three stakes wins on his resume, having taken the Private Terms in March at Laurel Park, the Frederico Tesio at Pimlico Race Course on April 19 and the Easy Goer on June 7. Just prior to the Easy Goer, the Lemon Drop Kid colt was a non-threatening eighth in the Preakness. "We were pretty disappointed with his race in the Preakness - he did a little running late but never got engaged," said Rice, who trains Kid Cruz for Vina Del Mar Thoroughbreds and Black Swan Stable. "We were very happy to get him turned around into a winning effort in the Easy Goer. He needs a little encouragement to get involved early. In some of his races he was 22 lengths back. In this last race on Belmont Day, he was maybe eight or 10 lengths back. When he's involved with those caliber of horses, he needs to be involved early." Irad Ortiz, Jr. will ride Kid Cruz from the rail. Owned by Barry Schwartz and named for Chicago Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews, Captain Serious has won all three starts against state-breds, breaking his maiden on April 5, taking a first-level allowance on April 26 - both at six furlongs - and then winning the seven-furlong Mike Lee in front-running fashion on May 31. "It gets said all the time, but I couldn't be happier with the way he's been training going into the race; it's been perfect," said trainer Mike Hushion of the Successful Appeal colt. "The only things that are left is the 1 1/16 miles, but he's handled seven furlongs, and moving into open company. If he's good enough, I think he'll run his 'A' race." Jose Ortiz will ride Captain Serious, with the pair leaving from post position 4. Rounding out the field are Ulanbator, a supplemental entry who most recently finished second to Tapiture in the Grade 3 Matt Winn at Churchill Downs; Spot, winless in three starts since taking the Grade 2 Swale in March at Gulfstream Park, and Gaining Ground. The field for the $200,000 Dwyer: | PP | Horse | | Jockey | WGT | Trainer | Odds | | 1a | Kid Cruz | | I Ortiz Jr. | 121 | L Rice | 8-5 | | 2 | Spot | | J Lezcano | 115 | N Zito | 12-1 | | 3 | Ulanbator | | J Leparoux | 115 | I Wilkes | 6-1 | | 4a | Captain Serious | | J Ortiz | 115 | M Hushion | 8-5 | | 5 | Tiz Dark | | J Velazquez | 115 | T Pletcher | 6-5 | | 6 | Gaining Ground | | C Lanerie | 115 | M Wilson | 30-1 |
a- Coupled entry -30- | 
