Although he was bred in Florida, he possessed a link to Southern California at birth. Fathered by the great Point Given, who emerged as the top three-year-old in the sport in 2001, this Thoroughbred was destined to make his mark in the area like his dad had in the early part of the twenty-first century.

He also joined his father as a Grade I winner back East, and he inherited that drive for consistency and winning races. And his runs in the final part of the race were a study in gameness and power.

He may not have been a divisional champion or Horse of the Year like Point Given, but Coil made his name known in the East and West like his sire did while racing between the ages of two and five.

The starting point came at Hollywood Park in the fall of 2010. Initially trained by Tom Proctor for Glen Hill Farm (who also bred him), Coil made his way to none other than Bob Baffert and the ownership team of Mike Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman after his debut. If anyone might have had an idea of what Coil might be able to do on a racetrack, it would have been the man who conditioned Point Given all those years ago. With a son of one of his champions in the barn, Baffert was no doubt intrigued on what Coil could potentially accomplish.

As it turned out, Coil established himself as a big fan of Hollywood Park during the first phase of his career. His first five starts took place at the Track of the Lakes and Flowers, and Coil finished in the top three each time. That period was capped with a victory in the Grade III Affirmed Handicap, and Coil followed that up with a second in the Grade II Swaps Stakes next time out. Glimpses of his versatility were prevalent, too. He broke his maiden going six furlongs, and the Affirmed was contested at a mile and a sixteenth. And he was just fine making big moves to get to the front, which accentuated his gameness.

But the most prestigious win of his career came back East. Sent to the Grade I Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park (long a showcase for Baffert three-year-olds), Coil was in last early on. But he had no peer in New Jersey that day as he put on a powerful stretch run and defeated a field that included Preakness Stakes champion Shackleford and Belmont Stakes winner Ruler On Ice. Before then, Coil liked being in the early mix in races. But in one of the biggest races for sophomores, the Florida-bred chestnut unveiled a new skill in his repertoire. And it paid off for him handsomely.

That also created a truly neat story, for Coil joined Point Given as a winner of the Haskell ten years after the latter exited Monmouth with the win. Along with Southern California, Coil had ties to the Haskell before even racing. And now, he had a connection to New Jersey's biggest horse race that was all his own.

After an uncharacteristic tenth place in Saratoga's Grade I Travers, Coil closed out the year with a third in the Grade I Goodwood Handicap at Santa Anita. Only that year's Santa Anita Hanidcap winner Game On Dude and 2010 Hollywood Gold Cup winner Awesome Gem finished in front of him, which again showed Coil's class. Overall, he put together a record of three wins, a second and a third in six starts while winning or placing in four graded stakes. Despite not running in the Triple Crown races, Coil enjoyed a very good year.

A little over a year after the Haskell triumph, Coil made his debut as an older horse at Del Mar. After being off the pace in his last couple of starts, Coil returned to being in the early mix, winning a seven furlong allowance optional claimer before taking second in the Grade II Pat O'Brien Stakes at the same distance. But Coil again showed he was capable of rallying when he took the Santa Anita Sprint Championship next time out for another Grade I score (and beating that year's Champion Sprinter, Amazombie, and future Grade I winner Jimmy Creed as well). He was not a factor in the Breeders' Cup Sprint, but Coil finished up 2012 on a better note with a good third in Aqueduct's Grade I Cigar Mile.

Coil made one start at five, but he achieved the perfect result. In action early at the 2012-2013 Santa Anita meet, Coil went favored in the Grade II San Pasqual. With that familiar toughness in the lane, he came out on the winning end by a narrow margin to head off into retirement with twelve finishes of third or better in a fourteen race career. And he managed to spread his versatility from start to finish.

A seven-time race winner, Coil also won or placed in eight graded stakes, and he won at distances between six furlongs and a mile and one-eighth. He also found victory at four racetracks, and proved to be a good shipper as he won the Haskell and finished third in the Cigar Mile. He won with various jockeys in the saddle, and he collected races by either staying near the pace or coming from far off it. And he could be gutsy in the lane. He looked tough and ran tough.

Coil could simply do a lot, and he retired as a very good, all-around racehorse.

He has since passed on his various traits to his offspring. For example, Principe Carlo is a stakes winner and owns wins at multiple distances sprinting. Spring Heat has taken several wins in claiming and allowance contests, and is another by Coil who has handled more than one sprint distance. And Wound Tight has done well routing and is a turf stakes winner.

These days, Coil is standing stud in Arkansas after beginning his stallion career in his home state. But he will always be a part of California because of all he did during the early 2010s.

In that regard, it is another case of like father, like son. But Coil has never been in the shadow of Point Given. When it came to competition, he proved he was his own horse.