Sharp Azteca In Fine Condition, “95%” Likely For Pegasus

Ivan Rodriguez's Sharp Azteca (Freud) emerged from his first career Grade I win in Saturday's GI Cigar Mile H. in fine condition, trainer Jorge Navarro reported via phone from his Florida training base. Navarro said the 4-year-old suffered a superficial laceration on a back leg, but was otherwise no worse for the wear following the 5 1/4-length triumph.

“It's nothing serious,” Navarro said of the minor injury. “I guess coming out of the gate, a horse cut him in the back, but everything is good. I had to jump on a plane last night, so I only got to see him for a little while after the race, but I spoke to my guy out there and I spoke to my vet. He looks very bright, alert. I'm pretty pleased with how he's come out of the race so far. He was begging for his mints and carrots.”

While Navarro said he was “wowed” by Sharp Azteca's performance, he was also quick to credit the ride given by Javier Castellano, who was aboard the colt for the first time in his career. Immediate plans call for Sharp Azteca to return to his Gulfstream Park West base Tuesday, where he will begin to train for a likely start in the GI Pegasus World Cup Jan. 27. Navarro said he was “95%” sure that Sharp Azteca would be pointed to the world's richest race.

“He's going to fly home and we're going to regroup,” Navarro said. “I'm going to give him probably a week off to see how he comes out of this and we'll go from there. He's going to let us know. With him, he lets us know where he's at.”

Trainer Chad Summers said Cigar Mile runner-up Mind Your Biscuits (Posse) will also ship to Florida with a yet-to-be-determined goal in mind. Among the possibilities for the New York-bred are the Pegasus and a return to Dubai to defend his title in the G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen in March.

GII Remsen S. winner Catholic Boy (More Than Ready) was also scheduled to return to trainer Jonathan Thomas's Florida base at Bridlewood in Ocala early in the coming week. The dual-Grade II winner will be given a brief freshening before resuming training ahead of his sophomore campaign.

“We'll let the dust settle,” Thomas said. “It's a good time of year to get a few weeks to freshen up, so we'll allow him to do that. As the spring comes around, we won't have the same opportunity.”