Kroy wins Bear’s Den Stakes at Gulfstream

HALLANDALE BEACH — Not even a change of surface could keep Kroy from proving to be the class of a small field in Sunday’s $100,000 Bear’s Den Stakes at Gulfstream Park as he led from gate to wire to capture the 7 1⁄2- furlong race by 1 1⁄2- lengths.

Originally slated for the turf, the race for 3-year-old Florida breds was moved to the main track due to heavy early morning rains. The switch appeared to bother the son of The Factor very little as he took the lead under Emisael Jaramillo from the outset and set very fast fractions of 22.82 seconds for the opening quarter mile and 45.39 seconds through the first half mile.

Zipping was the only horse that could stay with Kroy but never mounted any threat for the win. He’s the One came in third, 9 1⁄ 4 lengths back.

Owner Rich Papiese of Midwest Thoroughbreds, Inc. said scratching the gelding, who had never run on dirt in his career, was never a consideration when the race was pulled from the turf. Trainer Armando De La Cerda added that one of Kroy’s siblings had success on dirt.

“Armando said he could run on the dirt,” Papiese said.“We just didn’t knowif he could carry the speed over the extra furlong. We had sprinter speed on the dirt fromhis progeny, buthe did a hell of a job.”

The win was Kroy’s third in a row, with two coming in restricted races. The next question to be answered by Kroy’s connections is to find out how he stacks up against tougher competition. As such, De La Cerda said that his plan is to prep Kroy to run in the Hollywood Derby at Del Mar on Nov. 25.

“This horse has shown me that he has improved a lot so I have to find a top race to see what I have,” De La Cerda said. “I think it’s time give him an opportunity to go with better horses.”