Defend couldn’t have been more impressive in his Aug. 5 debut in a 5 1/2-furlong maiden special weight victory at Delaware Park, drawing off to an eight-length score while never being asked to run at any point.
The bay colt made the lead at the break and was well in hand the entire trip. He pulled clear of the field outside of the quarter-mile mark and strolled through the lane to finish up the distance in 1:04.27 on a fast track.
Defend is owned by Nick Sanna Stables LLC and was bred by Cheryl & James McGuire, Richard Heysek and Catherine Perez. The colt’s dam is out of the graded stakes winner Flashy n Smart.
Defend is the latest of American Freedom six First-Crop winners, ranking him in the top-10 for freshman sires.
