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World Cup: Blinkers for Keen Ice

March 22, 2016

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Excerpt from Courier-Journal, Jonathan Lintner. Photo by Michael Clevenger

A suggestion by jockey Ryan Moore, who rode Keen Ice to an off-the-board finish in his local prep for Saturday's Dubai World Cup, could pay dividends for connections hoping for a piece of the $10 million purse.

Keen Ice added blinkers for his workout Saturday and responded well, drilling five furlongs in 59 1/5 seconds, per Tammy Fox, trainer Dale Romans' assistant, exercise rider and partner tuning up the son of Curlin in Dubai.

"He seems to like it," Fox said. "It was a good move."

Without the headgear, Keen Ice finished seventh in Round 3 of the Al Maktoum Challenge run March 5 at Meydan Racecourse. In that race, the Donegal Racing star sat closer to the early pace under the Englishman Moore and lacked his usual late kick.

"We all know his style of running," Fox said. "He's a big plodder. When the pace is slow like it was, the leaders just sprint away from him. It takes him a while to get his momentum going. He needs pace to run at, and I think we'll get more of that in the Dubai World Cup.”

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