Bolt d'Oro Back to Work at Santa Anita

Mick Ruis was admittedly tightly wound Jan. 27 at Santa Anita Park, and it wasn't just because Bolt d'Oro, his multiple grade 1-winning Triple Crown contender, put in his first timed work of his 3-year-old year.

Added to the mixture was what he felt was a slight Jan. 25, when it was announced that Good Magic edged Bolt d'Oro by 18 votes for champion 2-year-old male during the Eclipse Awards ceremony at Gulfstream Park.

"I guess he's got to show it on the track," said the owner and trainer. "We still think we have the best horse out there. ... We've got to let him show what he's got. We can say he's the best, the other guys can say they're the best, but I guess we've got to show it."

Bolt d'Oro did his part Saturday morning, with an easy three-furlong drill in :36 4/5 under jockey Corey Nakatani, and the rider and his agent did their best to ease the tension with some good-natured ribbing back at the barn when the Medaglia d'Oro  colt was cooling out.

"The horse is looking good, but the trainer is a little washed out," Nakatani joked.

"Who is more tired? You or Bolt?" Nakatani's agent and son, Matt Nakatani quipped at Ruis.

Competitive by nature already, the Eclipse Awards experience for Ruis—flying out to Florida, getting dressed up, and hearing the disappointing result—only added to that combative fire.

"I felt, if I were here at the barn working, it would have been a lot better than being all dressed up in a tuxedo for the second time in my life to hear that," Ruis said. "Five minutes after they announced the winner, my competitiveness said, 'I just want to know where Good Magic is coming back, because that's the race I want to ship into.' But I thought I'd be a little bit smarter than that.

"We grew up wrestling in the family, so we're super competitive. The only way we know how to settle things is on the mat—mano a mano—but I've got to be more patient in this game. He's a horse, not a gladiator."

Bolt d'Oro could eventually have the opportunity to turn the tables on Good Magic—who won the Sentient Jet Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1), while Bolt d'Oro finished third despite a wide trip—but the March 10 San Felipe Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita will come first. Ruis said Bolt d'Oro is scheduled to work every six days leading up to the race.

But after a delay to Bolt d'Oro's 2018 training because of some body soreness earlier in January, Ruis was just happy to get his stable star back to work.

"You could tell he was wanting to work pretty bad," Ruis said. "I don't think he could do it any easier, in my eyes."