Bolt d'Oro Breezes Easy for Breeders' Cup Juvenile

Bolt d'Oro has done everything so easy early on in his career, it's hard not to wonder—what might his ceiling be when he's truly asked to give his best?

"It's scary," said owner/trainer Mick Ruis, after he watched the colt breeze five furlongs in 1:02 1/5 Oct. 29 at Santa Anita Park, in his final workout for the Sentient Jet Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1).

The workout Sunday was nothing flashy on the stopwatch—standard for how Ruis has trained him in recent months—but was visually impressive in context under jockey Corey Nakatani.

The Medaglia d'Oro  colt started his drill about four lengths behind stablemate Midnight Harbor, moved up with ease in the turn, and cruised past in the stretch to finish about three lengths in front at the wire.

"He just couldn't hold him any more," Ruis said of the Juvenile favorite. "We were hoping in the stretch he would go by him, but on the turn there, he can only go so slow. ... We just wanted to stretch his legs a little bit more—have some competition in his veins and keep the air that he has. Coming out of the last race, he's fit. We didn't have to do anything with him—just keep him happy and sound."

Although he trained for the Juvenile at Santa Anita following his 7 3/4-length FrontRunner Stakes (G1) win, Ruis believes Bolt d'Oro's two wins at Del Mar over the summer give him even more of an edge on the Juvenile field.

BALAN: Bolt d'Oro Untouchable in FrontRunner

"He has to at least have an advantage, because we're two-for-two on the track," Ruis said of Bolt d'Oro's 2 1/4-length debut win Aug. 5, which was followed by his three-quarter length Del Mar Futurity (G1) score Sept. 4. "I didn't think we needed a work over it, because he's been over the track and we'll gallop over it for three days. I just didn't want to go too early, because every year you go down there and horses catch a cold with that sea breeze coming in. If we go down four days out, that's less of a chance to catch a snot or a cough going into the race."

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

Also working for the Juvenile was FrontRunner runner-up Solomini. The Zayat Stables-owned Curlin  colt trained by Bob Baffert worked in company and covered five furlongs in 1:01 flat. His grade 1 placing came on the heels of a 1 3/4-length debut win going 6 1/2 furlongs at Del Mar Sept. 2.