Coastal Defense ready to leap into Pegasus World Cup if King Guillermo jumps out

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Juan Carlos Avila reported Wednesday that King Guillermo may not run in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup on Jan. 23 and instead head to Santa Anita for the Grade 2 San Pasqual one week later. That would be good news for trainer Dale Romans, who would love to get recent invitee Coastal Defense off the also-eligible list and into the starting lineup for the Grade 1 Pegasus.

King Guillermo has worked only twice since his distant fourth-place finish in the Grade 1 Cigar Mile on Dec. 5, and bypassing the Pegasus would give Avila an extra week to get his horse better prepared for his 2021 debut. King Guillermo is scheduled to work again here Saturday.

“Right now, we’re probably 70-30 to go to California for the San Pasqual and then the Santa Anita Handicap,” Avila said. “It just figures to be an easier spot for him. We’ll make the final decision after he breezes again Saturday.

Coastal Defense is an up-and-coming son of Curlin who did not make his debut until the age of 4 in 2020, and progressed steadily with experience, closing out the year finishing fourth in both the Grade 2 Fayette at Keeneland and Grade 1 Clark at Churchill. Coastal Defense, a half-brother to international star Hawkbill and Grade 1 winner Free Drop Billy, earned a career-best 100 Beyer Speed Figure in the Clark while finishing just more than a length behind winner Code of Honor, who is expected to go postward among the favorites in the Pegasus World Cup.

“He was hurt as a 2-year-old and 3-year-old, but we always knew he was a good horse and he really started to come around at the end of the year,” said Romans, adding that a good effort in the Pegasus by the well-bred Coastal Defense “would make him worth a lot of money down the road.”

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If he does escape the also-eligible list, Coastal Defense would give Romans two horses in the Pegasus field, along with Mr Freeze, who finished second behind Mucho Gusto in the 2020 edition of the event. Mr Freeze finished fifth in the Clark after sticking his head in front at the mile call. He bounced right back from his big effort in last year’s Pegasus to register an easy victory five weeks later in the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Mile.

Both Coastal Defense and Mr Freeze will work here over the weekend.