Kroy looks to improve to 3 for 3 with blinkers in Bear's Den

Putting blinkers on a horse doesn’t guarantee instant improvement, but it certainly has made a difference for Kroy, who has won both of his starts since trainer Armando De La Cerda made the equipment change earlier this summer.

Kroy and his blinkers likely will be favored to make it three in a row when he takes on just five other 3-year-olds in Sunday’s $100,000 Bear’s Den at Gulfstream Park. The overnight stakes is restricted to Florida-breds and covers 7 1/2 furlongs on turf.

Kroy won his maiden at second asking during the spring, but went winless in three subsequent starts before the blinkers went on for an entry-level allowance race on July 29. Kroy responded with a 7 1/4-length victory and a career-best 90 Beyer Speed Figure.

The performance earned the son of The Factor a start in the Tortugas Stakes four weeks later, and Kroy rallied from just off the pace for a three-quarter-length decision over Love Conquers as the even-money favorite.

“He was looking everywhere when he first started out,” said De La Cerda, who trains Kroy for his principal owner, Midwest Thoroughbreds. “And even after that, it would seem he’d only want to run from the quarter pole to the wire. But since we’ve added blinkers, he seems to be focusing for the entire race. When he won the allowance race, he had to fight all the way before drawing away at the end. And the same with the stakes – he just didn’t want to quit.”

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Kroy will break from the rail with Emisael Jaramillo aboard.

“It’s only a six-horse field, so the rail shouldn’t be a problem,” said De la cerda, who has won a dozen races during the current session. “He has a couple of speeds. He could go to the lead if he needed to. I’ll let [Jaramillo] make that decision. He’s smart and knows the horse very well.”

De La Cerda said Kroy missed one work after shipping to his owner’s farm in Ocala, Fla., for several days in advance of Hurricane Irma, but he doesn’t believe that should be a problem Sunday.

“The way he worked last Saturday, he seems pretty fit to me,” said De La Cerda.

General McGooby is the only other stakes winner in the field, having led throughout for a three-quarter-length decision in the Not Surprising going a mile on turf July 4. Trainer Lilli Kurtinecz opted to give the improving horse a break following that effort while keeping him stabled at his Palm Meadows base throughout the summer.

“I basically kicked him out for 30 days here after his last start because I didn’t see anything in the [condition] book until this one,” said Kurtinecz. “He’s doing great. He kind of bulked up a little bit. He’s fresh and happy. He’s young and immature, too, so I’m hoping he only gets better.”

Major Key and He’s the One also figure prominently in the Bear’s Den. Major Key was a last-to-first winner of an optional-claiming race two starts back and would benefit from a lively pace scenario. He’s the One finished third, two lengths behind Kroy, after forcing the issue throughout in the Tortugas and fifth, beaten 2 1/2 lengths by General McGooby, in the Not Surprising.