Pegasus World Cup Profile: Spun to Run

By Ed McNamara

Spun to Run – USRacing Photo

He didn’t win until his fifth start and didn’t face top 3-year-olds until he ran a distant third to Maximum Security in the Haskell Invitational (G1). He won a weak Grade 3 at Parx before finishing fifth there behind fellow $3 million Pegasus World Cup (G1) invitee Math Wizard in the Pennsylvania Derby (G1).

Spun to Run has been surging since then. He crushed an ungraded mile stakes at Parx before emerging as a serious horse in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) at Santa Anita. The 9-1 shot led throughout and beat odds-on Omaha Beach by 2¾ lengths. He ran big again in the Cigar Mile (G1) at Aqueduct, pushing Maximum Security hard and finishing second by 3½ lengths.

Trainer: Juan Carlos Guerrero

Owner: Robert P. Donaldson

Career record: 12-5-2-3

Career earnings: $1,160,520

Pedigree: Hard Spun-Yawkey Way (Grand Slam)

Age: 4

Running style: Speed/stalk

Handicapping insights:

“Quality speed makes him dangerous, especially without Maximum Security in there.” – Ed McNamara

“Looms a legitimate alternative to Omaha Beach after defeating that rival in the BC Dirt Mile … strong Pegasus win contender.

Notes: Has been training at Palm Meadows Training Center just outside Boynton Beach, Florida; worked 4 furlongs in 48 seconds on Jan. 1. … Guerrero, born in Mexico City, came to the United States when he was 14. He lied about his age so he could work at the old Garden State Park, where he was a groom and exercise rider … He’s a high-percentage, low-profile trainer based at Parx, near Philadelphia. Spun to Run, a $64,000 purchase, is his first graded-stakes winner in a career that began in 1991. He’s won 760 times in 3,735 starts for an excellent average of 20 percent. Last year was one of his best – 51-for-258 (20 percent) – with earnings of $2.4 million … Owner Donaldson on why he hired Guerrero: “I knew he was doing really well at Parx, and I know that Carlos can read a horse and really get inside their head.”