King Guillermo Heads West for San Pasqual

Road trips to the West Coast were a standard part of Victor Martinez' career as a five-time Major League baseball All-Star.

In contrast, King Guillermo, Martinez's 4-year-old colt, is a rookie when it comes to a cross-country trip.

The grade 2-winning son of Uncle Mo  will make his first career start west of Arkansas Jan. 30 when he steps into the batter's box against four foes in the $200,000 San Pasqual Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita Park.

Racing under the banner of Martinez's Victoria's Ranch for trainer Juan Carlos Avila, King Guillermo skyrocketed to prominence when he won the 2020 Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby (G2) at 49-1 odds to become a five-tool prospect for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1).

Unfortunately the COVID-19 pandemic pushed the Run for the Roses back to September and King Guillermo spent the first Saturday in May finishing second to Nadal in a division of the Arkansas Derby (G1).

After that, King Guillermo was meant to race fresh in the Sept. 5 Kentucky Derby, but those dreams of running in America's most famous face were crushed when he developed a fever and had to be scratched.

Ultimately, King Guillermo resurfaced to the Dec. 5 one-turn Cigar Mile Handicap (G1) for his 3-year-old finale, but the combination of a sloppy track and six months away from the races led to a fourth-place finish, 12 1/4 lengths behind True Timber.

King Guillermo returned to Florida for training, and he will now be once again be asked to travel around two turns, an assignment he handled well in the Tampa Bay Derby and Arkansas Derby.

Bought for $150,000 from the Gene Recio consignment at the 2019 Ocala Breeders' Sales Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training, King Guillermo has won two of six starts with earnings of $355,350. Bred by Carhue Investments, Grouseridge, and Marengo Investments, he is the lone stakes winner for his dam, the Dixieland Band mare Slow Sand, whose three most recent foals are sons of American Pharoah . 

A short cast faces King Guillermo in Saturday's 1 1/8-mile stakes, including a pair coming off runner-up finishes in graded stakes.

Calvin Nguyen's Idol was second by a half-length in the Dec. 26 San Antonio Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita, a race won by late-running Kiss Today Goodbye, subsequently seventh last weekend in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) at Gulfstream Park.

The San Antonio was just the fourth career start for the Richard Baltas-trained 4-year-old son of Curlin , who made his stakes debut.

That same day at Santa Anita, C R K Stable's Express Train was second by 4 1/2 lengths to Charlatan in the seven-furlong Runhappy Malibu Stakes (G1).  A  4-year-old Union Rags  colt trained by John Shirreffs, he was fourth in the 1 1/16-mile American Pharoah Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita in 2019 , his lone start in a two-turn dirt stakes.

The field also includes Tizamagician, a son of Tiznow who was a recent allowance optional claiming winner for trainer Richard Mandella and owners MyRaceHorse and Spendthrift Farm. The final entrant is Shanderella Stables, Mark Glatt, Danny and Doreen Haramoto, and Sheldon Kawahara's Zestful, a Ghostzapper  gelding trained by Glatt who was a speedy second in the allowance optional claiming ranks last time out.

Entries: San Pasqual S. (G2)

Santa Anita Park, Saturday, January 30, 2021, Race 5

• Grade II
• 1 1/8m
• Dirt
• $200,000
• 4 yo's & up
• 2:33 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Tizamagician (KY)	Drayden Van Dyke	120	Richard E. Mandella	9/2
2	2Idol (KY)	Gabriel Saez	120	Richard Baltas	9/5
3	3King Guillermo (KY)	Abel Cedillo	122	Juan Carlos Avila	2/1
4	4Express Train (KY)	Juan J. Hernandez	120	John A. Shirreffs	2/1
5	5Zestful (KY)	Edwin A. Maldonado	120	Mark Glatt	15/1