Mick Ruis, out of racing for eight years, returned to the game in a big way last year, taking down the GI Del Mar Debutante with second-time starter Union Strike (Union Rags). The owner/trainer was back in the winner's circle at the oceanside oval Monday when his Bolt d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro) overcame a troubled trip to come home first in the track's closing-day feature, the GI Del Mar Futurity.
“He got wiped out in the beginning, again,” Ruis said. “But this horse has so much talent, he can go to the front, he can come from the back. We were, what, six wide around the turn to take the lead. I had this horse maybe 70% cranked. I'll have him a little bit tighter for the [Sept. 30] GI FrontRunner S., so we're really excited about that. Then we'll see about the big race here [Breeders' Cup Juvenile] What does the sign say up front–Fifty Nine Days away?”
Sent off the 7-2 third choice, Bolt d'Oro got squeezed back towards the rear of Futurity field early as longshot Master Ruler (Overdriven) zipped out to set the pace with Soul Streit (Maclean's Music) and GII Best Pal S. winner Run Away (Run Away and Hide) in close pursuit through a quarter in :21.88. Soul Streit grabbed a clear lead down the backstretch, but he was quickly tackled by Run Away who had his nose in front after a half in :44.54. Zatter (Midnight Lute) overtook a tiring Run Away into the lane, but Bolt d'Oro had made an eye-catching five-wide move to loom a threat at the head of the lane. Zatter and Bolt d'Oro sparred until just outside the sixteenth pole, where Bolt d'Oro started to assert his superiority, wearing down his foe to score by three-quarters of a length in 1:22.91.
“I was pretty confident going into the race,” said winning jockey Corey Nakatani. “I thought he was the horse to beat; that they'd have to pick their feet up to beat him. But he's a very talented colt; he's very classy. I knew I'd have to have some patience today; to just wait some. And it worked out. In the lane, he was big. I have to thank Mick. He gave me this shot and I'm glad it worked out.”
Rafael Bejarano, aboard Zatter, had no excuses for the runner-up.
“I had a good position; right where I wanted to be,” Bejarano said. “When we went for home, I asked him and he responded. He never stopped running. The winner was just too much today.”
Bolt d'Oro, a $630,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga August yearling purchase, was the 4-5 favorite in his 6 1/2-furlong debut at Del Mar Aug. 5 and recovered from a slow start to duel on the front end before drawing off to win by 2 1/4 lengths.
Pedigree Notes:
Globe Trot, a $100,000 Keeneland September Yearling purchase in 2009, was bred by Claiborne and raced in the colors of WinStar Farm. The mare's first foal is Sonic Mule (Distorted Humor), second in last year's GII Saratoga Special and third in this year's GII Swale S. Bolt d'Oro is her second foal. The mare produced a colt by Curlin in 2016, but died last year. Out of Claiborne's multiple graded stakes winning homebred Trip, the mare was a half-sister to the dam of stakes winner and multiple graded stakes placed Recruiting Ready (Algorithms). Trip is a half-sister to multiple stakes winner Joke (Phone Trick), dam of multiple Grade I winner Zensational (Unbridled's Song), as well as to the dam of multiple graded stakes winner Departing (War Front).
Monday, Del Mar
DEL MAR FUTURITY-GI, $301,380, DMR, 9-4, 2yo, 7f, 1:22.91, ft.
1–#@&BOLT D'ORO, 120, c, 2, by Medaglia d'Oro&log=">Medaglia d'Oro
1st Dam: Globe Trot, by A.P. Indy
2nd Dam: Trip, by Lord At War (Arg)
3rd Dam: Tour, by Forty Niner
($630,000 Ylg '16 FTSAUG). O-Ruis Racing; B-WinStar Farm,
LLC (KY); T-Mick Ruis; J-Corey S. Nakatani. $180,000. Lifetime
Record: 2-2-0-0, $216,000. *1/2 to Sonic Mule (Distorted
Humor), MSW & MGSP, $214,230. Werk Nick Rating: A+++
*Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Zatter, 120, c, 2, Midnight Lute–Katori, by Dixie Union.
($160,000 Ylg '16 KEESEP). O-Zayat Stables, LLC; B-Sean Speck
& Speck (KY); T-Bob Baffert. $60,000.
3–Run Away, 123, c, 2, Run Away and Hide–Cabales, by Pulpit.
($9,500 RNA Wlg '15 KEENOV; $35,000 Ylg '16 OBSAUG;
$325,000 2yo '17 BARMAR). O-Kaleem Shah, Inc.; B-Erv
Woolsey & Ralph Kinder (KY); T-Simon Callaghan. $36,000.
Margins: 3/4, 4 3/4, NO. Odds: 3.90, 3.40, 2.60.
Also Ran: Dia de Pago, Soul Streit, Tatters to Riches, Gracida, Master Ruler, Fleetwood. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
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