A Dream Comes True, Again, for Mick Ruis

Not long after his horse racing dream turned into a nightmare, crushed under a million dollars in debt, horseman Mick Ruis began plotting a path back to the sport. 

From his first visit as a teen in 1979 to Agua Caliente just over the border in Tijuana, Mexico, Ruis dreamed of owning Thoroughbreds. To make that vision possible, the self-made businessman sold his successful scaffolding company in the early 2000s. But by the middle of the decade the horse operation was struggling, the bills had piled up, and owner-trainer Ruis made the tough decision to get out of racing.

Still, even at that low point, the dream couldn't be suppressed. Ruis went back to work and built another, even more successful company—American Scaffold—driven by the idea of forging a path back to the track. In a $78 million deal in March 2016, as reported by the Los Angeles Times, Ruis sold the majority of that company and returned to racing.

"When you get this in your blood, there's nothing else you want to do," Ruis said.

Some 10 years later, Mick and wife Wendy Ruis's Ruis Racing has fared much better. On Nov. 4 they'll start their dream horse, undefeated Bolt d'Oro, in the $2 million Sentient Jet Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) at Del Mar. The compact brown colt with a muscular build, assembled for the realities of racing, will take aim at his biggest win yet at a track just 25 miles from Mick Ruis' childhood home of El Cajon, Calif.

"When I was 18 years old, my first taste of horse racing was at Agua Caliente, and I thought if I could just claim one of those $3,000 claimers, my life is complete," Ruis said. "I never got the $3,000 then and they shut down the track. But here we are today. 

"I came to Del Mar for the first time when I was 19. I don't know how I got the racing bug, but once you get it in you, it ain't getting out of you."

The off-track success that paved Mick Ruis' path to Thoroughbred ownership was a longer shot than Arcangues. Ruis didn't graduate from high school and took a job delivering scaffolding as an 18-year-old. He moved to a home near his sister in Columbia Falls, Mont., and began a successful contracting business, which he said he eventually sold for $2.5 million to fund his racing dream.

That first time around, Ruis said he purchased some "$10,000 horses" and a ranch near San Diego to house them, but within 4 1/2 years the operation was a million dollars in debt. He decided to leave the horse business and return to work, but a non-compete contract from his sale of the first company required him to wait six more months before launching a new business.

"That six months, I thought, 'I don't know how I'm going to do it, but as soon as I can go back to work, I'm going to,' " Ruis said. "I promised myself that I wouldn't put my family in that kind of situation again. I'd only get back into horse racing if I could really compete at the highest level."

Ruis said the new company, American Scaffold, "grew from a company of five employees to 500." He said it is used by more than 150 U.S. Navy vessels.

"We became the largest scaffolding company for the United States Navy. Today we are on over 150 Naval vessels right now in five states," Ruis said. "I sold the majority of the company to John Lehman, the youngest secretary of the Navy under Ronald Reagan, so he's my partner now. I'm still CEO, still work every day, but I don't have to be at the places. I built this company from scratch, I know every branch manager."

Following that sale, Ruis jumped back into racing on that higher level he envisioned. He currently has about 40 horses, including Bolt d'Oro, who was purchased for $630,000 at the 2016 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga select yearling sale from the consignment of Denali Stud. The colt was bred in Kentucky by WinStar Farm.

The son of Medaglia d'Oro —Globe Trot, by A.P. Indy, is a half brother to Calumet Farm's multiple stakes winner Sonic Mule.

Besides the colt's physical attributes, he has a tremendous mind, Ruis said.

"When they broke him in Montana, the first time on his back, he just did what you wanted him to do," Ruis said. "He wasn't one of those horses that would rear up, act stubborn, want to run off on you. That's where I see potential for longevity. Half the horses get hurt, not from something they do on the track, but something in the stall, or their nerves and they get ulcers. He takes it all in pretty good."

Montana? That's where Ike Green provides initial training for Thoroughbreds at the Ruis's 150-acre training farm outside Columbia Falls. Green also helps select horses at sales. The Ruis's also own a ranch near Descanso, Calif., near San Diego. 

Ruis, 56, believes that Bolt d'Oro is still coming into his own.

"He's really good and he's still going to grow," Ruis said. "I like to use the analogy that when I was in junior high, a couple of guys already had beards and I hadn't had puberty yet. He's not one that has the beard yet; he still has room to grow."

In his return to racing, Ruis was joined by his family. Ruis' trainer's license had expired and daughter Shelbe initially trained their horses, including 2016 Del Mar Debutante Stakes (G1) winner Union Strike. Ruis said after spending much of his business life on the road, he treasures spending time in racing with his wife and daughter.

"It means a lot because we really love it. Shelbe probably loves the horsemanship part more than all of us. I like the gamesmanship," Ruis said. "Wendy loves coming every morning; she's with me every morning at 5:30. We've been married for 23 years. 

"We met and three weeks later we were married. I was a single guy with three children and she was a widow with two. The day we got married we had five and we had two together. Up to two years ago, I was traveling around all the time making a living. So this is the first time in 23 years we get to hang out every morning. She's loving that and learning a lot about the horses. She really likes it."

Mick's son, Mick Jr., competed as a jockey for a time, but moved back into the scaffolding business. Shelbe noted that as the stable has enjoyed success, all of her brothers and sisters have rallied around the sport. In the days before the Juvenile, Shelbe has been leading Bolt d'Oro out to the track for his morning exercise; a routine that typically starts with him standing on the track for a few minutes, taking everything in. Shelbe enjoys every moment.

"I'm just enjoying being here working with one of the best 2-year-olds. It's just fun to be here; I love horses," said Shelbe Ruis. "I'm working for my dad; he's training and I'm helping run the barn. My mom comes every day, so it's nice."

Shelbe Ruis said her dad enjoys those quiet mornings as a trainer, but as an owner he thrills to the excitement of the afternoons.

"I know he loves the horses and he also loves the racing, the gambling, the excitement side of it," Shelbe Ruis said. "And with us all together, I think he's having a great time."

Ruis said in making this return to racing, he decided it would be best to train his own horses. Following that decision, he began his research through backstretch conversations.

"I asked questions every day. There were probably people who think I'm the dumbest guy out there, but I would ask all sorts of questions," Ruis said. "You just want to see what people are doing. Half of them I thought, this won't work in my program—you have to be polite. But I trained before and the number one thing is you just keep your horse happy and fit and use common sense."

Ruis eventually passed the trainer's test to make his return to conditioning horses official. Shelbe prepared him for the exam.

"Shelbe helped me study for two nights and I got a 98% on it," Ruis said. "They said there's only one other person who got a 98. I said who was it? They said, 'your daughter.' I said she's a good teacher then."