Bolt d'Oro Takes Next Step in FrontRunner

Owner and trainer Mick Ruis became a believer when Bolt d'Oro hit the sixteenth pole Sept. 4 at Del Mar.

Ruis knew he had a talented colt on his hands well before that. His $630,000 price tag, the talent he showed during training, and the brilliance he displayed to win a less-than-ideal debut were all indicators.

But that final sixteenth of the Del Mar Futurity (G1) is when Ruis really knew. The highly regarded Zatter, from the barn of Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, held a one-length advantage with a furlong to run, but Bolt d'Oro was closing fast under Corey Nakatani. The top pair continued to pull away from the field, but Ruis' Medaglia d'Oro  colt outkicked Zatter in the final strides to win by three-quarters of a length.

"All of Bob's horses re-break at the sixteenth pole. We know that," Ruis said. "When his horse re-broke and we were going with him, and then pulled away from him, I said, 'I think we might have something really, really special.'"

BALAN: Bolt d'Oro Wears Down Zatter to Win Del Mar Futurity

Ruis said after the race that Bolt d'Oro was "maybe 70% cranked" for the Del Mar Futurity and expanded on his reasoning for that comment Sept. 27 at Santa Anita Park, where the colt will try two turns for the first time in the $300,000 FrontRunner Stakes (G1) Sept. 30.

"I did not want him thinking he's a sprinter. He's a router," Ruis said. "And I didn't want to put a lot of speed in him to think he's a sprinter. The last thing I wanted was for him to win the Futurity as a speedball going in. The most important races for us are the FrontRunner and Breeders' Cup (Juvenile, G1), so that's why we didn't want to jack him up."

And if Bolt d'Oro gets a clean break (he's broken slowly in his first two starts), Ruis would be fine with dictating the pace.

"He has natural speed. It wouldn't surprise me if Corey has a nice break, goes to the front, and never looks back," Ruis said. "We just want to get to that eighth pole or sixteenth pole with a lot of horse left. But we won't know until we get there."

Zatter is back for the 1 1/16-mile FrontRunner and Baffert has entered another colt to take a shot at the Futurity winner. Solomini, like Zatter, is also owned by Zayat Stables. The son of Curlin  won his 6 1/2-furlong debut Sept. 2 at Del Mar by 1 3/4 lengths and showed an ability to stalk the early pace and pounce. Solomini was a $270,000 purchase at the 2016 Keeneland September yearling sale. Zatter, a Midnight Lute  colt who won his debut by 1 1/2 lengths at Del Mar Sept. 4, was a $160,000 purchase at the same sale.

Another compelling entrant in the FrontRunner is Reddam Racing's Encumbered, who has two wins at a mile on turf—including a score in the Del Mar Juvenile Turf last time out Sept. 2. The Violence  colt finished fourth on debut in the 5 1/2-furlong Santa Anita Juvenile on dirt July 3, and trainer Simon Callaghan said if the bay doesn't take to the dirt this time, he has no issue with moving back to the grass for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T).

Other entrants with two-turn success include Ayacara, another Violence colt who won going a mile on the Del Mar dirt Aug. 25, and City Plan, a son of Street Sense who broke his maiden by a head on second asking at Los Alamitos Race Course going a mile Sept. 7.

Entries: FrontRunner S. (G1)

Santa Anita Park, Saturday, September 30, 2017, Race 8

• Grade I
• 1 1/16m
• Dirt
• $300,000
• 2 yo
• 4:03 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Zatter (KY)	Rafael Bejarano	122	Bob Baffert	5/2
2	2Take the One O One (CA)	Joseph Talamo	122	Brian J. Koriner	15/1
3	3Ayacara (GB)	Kent J. Desormeaux	122	J. Keith Desormeaux	10/1
4	4Bolt d'Oro (KY)	Corey S. Nakatani	122	Mick Ruis	2/1
5	5City Plan (KY)	Drayden Van Dyke	122	Eoin G. Harty	20/1
6	6Texas Wedge (KY)	Evin A. Roman	122	Peter Miller	6/1
7	7Encumbered (KY)	Mario Gutierrez	122	Simon Callaghan	8/1
8	8Solomini (KY)	Flavien Prat	122	Bob Baffert	4/1
9	9Continental Divide (CA)	Victor Espinoza	122	James M. Cassidy	15/1