Kroy prepared to run on turf or dirt

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – There’s rain in the forecast Saturday at Gulfstream Park which could put the status of the afternoon’s $48,000 feature attraction, carded at a mile on turf, in some jeopardy. But rain or shine, there shouldn’t be much jeopardy for those choosing to back Kroy in the first of three allowances on the card.

Grade 2-placed Kroy is not only the class of the field in Saturday’s main event, he’s equally adept on turf or dirt. In fact, trainer Armando De la cerda said he would actually prefer a sloppy track for Kroy, who won the Bear’s Den overnight Stakes here early last summer over a wet surface.

Kroy has made just one start since finishing second in the Grade 2 Mathis Brothers Mile to close his 3-year-old campaign last December at Santa Anita. He launched his 2018 season with a second-place finish behind the more seasoned, multiple stakes winner Mr. Jordan going seven furlongs over the main track in the Big Drama Stakes here May 12.

“He needed a break after coming back from California and running a lot of good races in a row at the end of last year,” said De la cerda, who trains Kroy for his principal client Midwest Thoroughbreds. “I needed a race to start him back, so I chose the seven-furlong stakes against Florida-breds on the main track, and I think he was a work or two short of being fit enough. He got beat by a very good horse, but I think if he’d had a couple of more works he might have won.”

Kroy is a perfect fit for Saturday’s feature attraction due to a clause in the conditions that makes a horse eligible for the race if it has not won on the turf since Jan. 1.

“There aren’t a lot of options for him on the turf down here, especially at distances at seven furlongs to a mile, which I think are his best races,” De la cerda said. “I want to get one more race into him then look for something out of town to start the second half of his year. Maybe go to Del Mar this summer, which I prefer to Santa Anita because the stretch is so much shorter, or Saratoga, where the competition would probably be a lot tougher.”

De la cerda also has fond memories of Del Mar, where he notched the lone Grade 1 win of his career with La Tia in the 2014 Matriarch.

Kroy is one of two horses De la cerda plans to run in Saturday’s main event, no matter the conditions, along with Cut to Order. The 7-year-old has posted nine career victories, including a $25,000 optional claimer at a mile on the grass here April 20. Two of those nine wins came over wet tracks, and his comefrom-behind style compliments the speedy Kroy, who figures to be on the lead once again.

Todd Pletcher countered De la cerda with a pair of his own, Bold Daddy and Master Plan, although both are coming off disappointing efforts in races moved from the turf to the main track. Big Daddy was eased to the wire after losing contact with the field as the 8-5 favorite in the 1 1/4-mile Home of the Brave starter handicap May 28. Master Plan had finished an even fourth as the 9-5 choice under optionalclaiming conditions over a sloppy track 48 hours earlier.

Three were entered for the main track only, including Hy Riverside and Deland, who finished third and fourth, respectively, behind Kroy in the Big Drama, and Prince Tito, who’ll bring a three-race winning streak into the headliner if he starts.