Paolucci leases Pegasus berth to Sharp Azteca's owner

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The second running of the $16 million Pegasus World Cup suddenly got a little more interesting with the announcement that Cigar Mile winner and Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile runner-up Sharp Azteca will join a field that was already expected to include Horse of the Year favorite Gun Runner, Collected, and West Coast.

Sharp Azteca will run in a spot purchased by Ron Paolucci, who reached a lease agreement for the race with owner Ivan Rodriguez over the weekend. Paolucci has already leased War Story, a horse he owns in partnership, to Frank Stronach for the 1 1/8-mile Pegasus on Jan. 27.

“It’s a one-shot deal, for this race only,” Paolucci said. “Believe me, I’ll still be rooting for War Story to win the race. But as a racing fan, I feel having Sharp Azteca in the field makes this a better race. I also figured if he didn’t run in my spot, he’d have gotten in with someone else, perhaps in [Stronach’s] last spot, and we’d have had to compete against him anyway with our horse.”

Sharp Azteca and War Story both are trained by Jorge Navarro. Both worked five furlongs Sunday morning at Gulfstream Park West, with Sharp Azteca going in 1:00.31. War Story, as has been customary of late, clocked an easier move in 1:03.67.

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“It’s a big relief knowing Sharp Azteca is now going to run in the Pegasus, so we can really start to focus on the race,” Navarro said. “The works were typical for both. I thought Sharp Azteca was going in about 1:02, that’s how easily he was moving out there. War Story is an old horse who keeps himself fit. I’ll put him with some company next week to give him a harder work before the race.”

Navarro said he currently does not have a commitment on a rider for Sharp Azteca. Javier Castellano guided Sharp Azteca to his 5 3/4-length triumph in the Cigar Mile and is the trainer’s first choice. Castellano also is being courted by the connections of West Coast, whom he rode to a third-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

“I told Javier I’d love to have him,” Navarro said. “I also told him I’d hate to be in his shoes because it’s a really tough decision he’ll have to make.”