Bolt D’Oro Drives Clear To Impressive FrontRunner Victory

Bolt d’Oro proved he could make the jump to two turns for owner/trainer Mick Ruis when he dominated Saturday’s Grade 1 FrontRunner Stakes at Santa Anita as the 4-5 favorite. The juvenile son of Medaglia d’Oro relaxed just off the pace for jockey Corey Nakatani, then rallied around the turn to take the lead in the stretch, running away to an open-length victory. Bolt d’Oro, also the winner of the Del Mar Futurity in his most recent start, has now earned an expenses-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile this fall at Del Mar.

“This was pretty cool,” Ruis admitted. “We thought he was going to run a good race. We thought he could run two turns, and now we know he can.”

After missing the break in the Del Mar Futurity, Bolt d’Oro’s owner/trainer Mick Ruis was hoping the colt could make a clean start in the FrontRunner. Nakatani was able to get him out of the gates cleanly, and even briefly vied for the lead before Take The One O One took charge into the first turn.

Bolt d’Oro relaxed easily in second position, just ahead of Zatter to keep that rival boxed in at the rail. Solomini was threatening while three or four wide all the way through the backstretch. After fractions of :23.17 and :47.23, Take The One O One began to waver on the lead.

Cruising along on the leader’s outside, Bolt d’Oro easily put his head in front, drawing out to a one-length advantage at the top of the stretch. Under a steady ride, Bolt d’Oro continued to extend his lead down the lane, crossing the wire open lengths in front of Solomini (3-1). Take The One O One (70-1) faded to third, and Ayacara (25-1) checked in fourth.

“I was more impressed when I watched the replay,” said Nakatani. “I really liked the way he did it. He’s confident wherever he is at, he is a special animal. Mick gave me the instructions and the horse did the rest. I’m looking forward to the Breeders’ Cup as well as the first Saturday in May in Kentucky. Mick had his friend, the great Hall of Famer Lynn Swann, here today. He was my idol as a kid. I always wanted to play like Lynn.”

Bred in Kentucky by WinStar Farm, Bolt d’Oro is out of the winning A.P. Indy mare Globe Trot. Ruis purchased the colt for $630,000 at the Fasig-Tipton New York Select Yearling sale, and he has been rewarded with three wins from three starts for the juvenile contender. Likely to be favored in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, Bolt d’Oro has won a pair of Grade 1 races to earn just under $400,000.

“Ike Green (Ruis’ racing manager) picked him out at as a yearling at the Saratoga Select sales,” Ruis explained. “He loved him when he broke him. When we got him to San Luis Rey Downs they said he just moved fantastic. We got him into our barn here in March and everyone that got on him said he was special. He’s still proving everybody right.”

Watch the race replay here:

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