Bolt d'Oro

The long and complicated case over whether to disqualify 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify for his GI Santa Anita Derby scopolamine positive sparked back to life Dec. 17, eight days after the Santa Anita Park board of stewards dismissed complaints against two Bob Baffert-trained horses that had been filed by the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) as part of a legal settlement. At the outset of Thursday's regularly scheduled CHRB meeting, the board's executive director, Scott Chaney, explained how because of a newly filed appeal, the 2 1/2-year regulatory odyssey...

As we approach the end of the calendar, we turn our attention to the incoming sire class of 2021. We asked several judges who their favorite incoming sire is for next year and if there are any other stallions, new or otherwise, that have caught their eye as under-the-radar picks.     DEREK MACKENZIE, Vinery Sales  Higher Power (Medaglia d'Oro), $10,000, Darby Dan  My favorite new sire for 2021 is Higher Power. Physically, he's just phenomenal and his pedigree is hands down the best this year for the new sires....

'TDN Rising Star' Global Campaign (Curlin--Globe Trot, by A.P. Indy), an excellent third when last seen in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic, will not resume training and has been retired from racing. He will enter stud for the 2021 breeding season at WinStar Farm. "We considered bringing him back for a final start in the [GI] Pegasus World Cup Invitational S. because he ran so well in the Breeders' Cup," said Elliott Walden, WinStar's president, CEO, and racing manager. "He shed his frog in that race and the timing of...

I read with interest the article "Baffert's Lawyer: Drape's `False' Story `Debunked'" published today on your website. Although I represent Mick Ruis, the following comments set forth facts that cannot be disputed and address a number of the patently false or clearly misleading representations contained in that article. JUSTIFY'S OFFICIAL SAMPLE AND SPLIT SAMPLE CONFIRMED THE PRESENCE OF SCOPOLAMINE. The prohibited substance, scopolamine, was detected in the official test sample collected from Justify following the running of the 2018 Santa Anita Derby. Split sample testing, requested by Justify's trainer, Bob...

After 2 1/2 years of closed-session decision-making by the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) and a complicated court battle to publicly reopen the case over whether to disqualify 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify over a scopolamine positive from when the colt won that year's GI Santa Anita Derby, the initial back-and-forth legal salvos in an Oct. 29 stewards' hearing on the matter indicate that the argument could come down to whether scopolamine was a Class 3 or Class 4 substance at the time of the post-race test. The difference in...

Spendthrift Farm announced Tuesday the reduction of stud fees for most of its current roster of stallions set to stand at the Lexington-based farm in 2021. Leading sire Into Mischief (Harlan's Holiday) heads the roster at a previously announced fee of $225,000 S&N. Booked full, he represents the only stallion with an increased fee in 2021. Top sire Malibu Moon (A.P. Indy) and second-season sire Omaha Beach will both stand for $35,000 S&N. Malibu Moon stood for $60,000, while Omaha Beach stood for $45,000 in 2020. Fellow second-season sire Vino...

Mick Ruis has announced that he has reached an agreement in principle with the California Horse Racing Board regarding a settlement of pending litigation in Los Angeles County Superior Court. The preliminary agreement is intended to resolve claims against the CHRB for failure to hold a purse disqualification hearing related to the 2018 GI Santa Anita Derby, in which the first-place finisher and subsequent Triple Crown winner, Justify, tested positive for the prohibited substance scopolamine. Bolt d'Oro, owned and trained by Ruis, finished second. Members of the CHRB, the state...

The present crisis will perhaps find horsemen a little more stoical than most. When it comes to biding their time, after all, the Thoroughbred gives them plenty of practice. Nonetheless it must test the patience more than anything to have a racehorse just back to fitness this spring after a long lay-off, only to find most of the racing program immersed by the pandemic. What a relief for his connections then that Global Campaign (Curlin) was able to find a landing strip for his touchdown, after a nine-month absence, at...

Four-time champion Beholder (Henny Hughes) delivered a filly by War Front Wednesday night at Spendthrift Farm in Lexington. "Beholder foaled a very nice War Front filly last night on the farm," confirmed Ned Toffey, General Manager at Spendthrift. "This filly is a good-sized, well-made foal, with a great shoulder and plenty of bone. She couldn't be doing any better. The delivery was very smooth and uneventful. It was another beautiful effort by Beholder." The dark bay filly was born at approximately 8:30 p.m. and "stood up within 20 minutes" according...

Trainer Mick Ruis filed a petition against the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) Monday in the Los Angeles Superior Court for writ of mandate and damages. The petition concerns Justify (Scat Daddy)'s victory in the 2018 GI Santa Anita Derby, in which the Ruis-trained Bolt d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro) finished runner-up to the Bob Baffert-trained runner. In a post-race urine sample, Justify tested positive for scopolamine--a prohibited substance--as revealed by The New York Times in a bombshell story September of last year. Scopolamine is found in jimsonweed, which is known to...

Bolt d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro--Globe Trot, by A.P. Indy) was represented by his first reported foal Friday, Jan. 10, when a filly from Moment of Speight (Ire) (Speightstown) was born at Forever Spring Farm in Kentucky. Bred in partnership by Forever Spring and River Oaks Farm, the bay is the first produce from her 5-year-old dam, a daughter of Irish SW and U.S. dual graded-stakes placed Shimmering Moment (Afleet Alex). The filly's third dam Vassar (Royal Academy) is responsible for champion and two-time GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint hero Stormy Liberal...