Bolo Back Home at Santa Anita for Thunder Road

No better than ninth in four trips outside of California, Golden Pegasus Racing and Earle Mack's Bolo will stay home instead of getting caught up in Kentucky Derby week for a third straight year.

In 2015 he took to the Churchill Downs main track to participate in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) and finished 12th, and he returned in 2016 to run 10th in the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic Stakes (G1T). Other out-of-town efforts include the 2015 Belmont Derby (G1T), where he came in ninth, and another ninth-place run in the Maker's 46 Mile Stakes (G1T) last time out April 14 at Keeneland.

In between and around those efforts, the son of Temple City   has never run out of the top three in six starts on the Santa Anita Park grass, where he'll find himself again April 29 in the $100,000 Thunder Road Stakes (G3T).

Those six starts on the Santa Anita turf include back-to-back scores in the 2016-17 Arcadia Stakes (G2T), back-to-back placings in the 2016-17 Frank E. Kilroe Mile (G1T), and a victory in the 2014 Eddie Logan Stakes, all for trainer Carla Gaines.

BALAN: Bolo Repeats in Arcadia Stakes

Two other stakes winners populate the seven-horse field—Ellen and Peter Johnson's Twentytwentyvision and Matthew Schera's Farhaan.

Twentytwentyvision last won for trainer Richard Mandella six starts back in the Sept. 5 Rolling Green Stakes at Golden Gate Fields, while Farhaan won three stakes in New York in 2013-14, and ran second in his first start for trainer Phil D'Amato in a March 9 optional-claiming allowance after relocating to the West Coast.

Entering the Thunder Road on a two-race win streak is Red Castle Farms' Sawyer's Hill. Trained by Kristin Mulhall, the 6-year-old son of Spring At Last won a $75,000 claiming race Feb. 26 and struck again March 30 in an optional-claiming allowance, both on the Santa Anita turf. Although he has been running at lower levels recently, Sawyer's Hill does not lack stakes experience. He ran seventh behind Twentytwentyvision in the Bowling Green, but further back raced against top turf competition as a 3-year-old in 2014, when he ran second in both the Del Mar Derby (G2T) and Twilight Derby (G2T).

Thunder Road S. (G3T)

Santa Anita Park, Saturday, April 29, 2017, Race 7

• 1m
• Turf
• $100,000
• 3 yo's & up
• 4:09 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Perfectly Majestic (KY)	Kent J. Desormeaux	122	Robert B. Hess, Jr.	7/2
2	2Twentytwentyvision (KY)	Flavien Prat	122	Richard E. Mandella	7/2
3	3Bolo (KY)	Mike E. Smith	126	Carla Gaines	5/2
4	4Mithqaal (KY)	Rafael Bejarano	122	Doug F. O'Neill	15/1
5	5Fabozzi (KY)	Corey S. Nakatani	122	Mark Glatt	6/1
6	6Farhaan (KY)	Tyler Baze	122	Philip D'Amato	6/1
7	7Sawyer's Hill (KY)	Martin A. Pedroza	122	Kristin Mulhall	7/2