King Guillermo puts in strong breeze for Cigar Mile

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – With the disappointment of having to scratch King Guillermo out of the Kentucky Derby less than 72 hours before the race in the rearview mirror, trainer Juan Avila continues preparations for the final chapter of his star-crossed 3-year-old’s 2020 campaign, which will come on Dec. 5 at Aqueduct in the Grade 1 Cigar Mile.

King Guillermo, who developed a slight temperature on the Wednesday afternoon prior to the Derby, turned in his final major work for the Cigar Mile at Gulfstream Park on Friday when breezing a half-mile in 46.99 from the gate. Working in company, King Guillermo posted tailwind-aided splits of 23.69 and 35.48 for the opening three furlongs before galloping out five-eighths back into the strong wind in 59.67.

“I’m very happy, it was perfect,” trainer Juan Avila reported a short while later. “I worked him from the gate because he needed some competition – all his other works have been alone – and because it’s been a very long time since he’s run. He was a little nervous behind the gate, but he broke well and went very easily.”

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King Guillermo won the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby, but has been idle since his second-place finish in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby on May 2.

Avila said King Guillermo is training as well for the Cigar Mile as he was in the weeks leading up to the Derby.

“It was impossible for a horse to have been doing any better than he was before the Derby,” Avila said. “I really expected him to win, he was training so well. And he’s going very similar now.”

Avila said he will give King Guillermo one more work, likely an easy half-mile here next Friday, before shipping to Belmont the following day. He also reported that Jose Ortiz will have the mount in the Cigar Mile.

“I think a mile is a good race for him since he hasn’t run in such a long time,” said Avila, who will also send the unraced King of Dreams to Aqueduct to make his career debut on the Cigar Mile undercard. King of Dreams, a son of Air Force Blue, also worked from the gate here earlier Friday, going four furlongs under pressure in 47.11. Former major leaguer Victor Martinez owns both King Guillermo and King of Dreams.