TAMPA, Fla. — King Guillermo won the $351,000 Tampa Bay Derby by 4 3/4 lengths on Saturday for owner Victor Martinez, a five-time All-Star in Major League Baseball.
The 3-year-old colt earned 50 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby. However, King Guillermo isn’t nominated to the Triple Crown series, so Martinez would need to pay $6,000 by March 30 to get him in the Derby.
Martinez races as Victoria’s Ranch, a 2,400-acre cattle operation he founded in Florida after retiring from a 16-year baseball career in 2018. He paid $150,000 for King Guillermo, who won his first stakes race on Saturday.
Sent off at 49-1 odds, King Guillermo paid $100.40, $38.20 and $17.80. He has two wins in four career starts and earnings of $240,350.
Ridden by Samy Camacho, King Guillermo ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:42.63.
Sole Volante was second and Texas Swing took third.