By Christie DeBernardis
Dual Grade I winner Bolt d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro) will face off with undefeated “TDN Rising Star” McKinzie (Street Sense) Saturday when he makes his highly anticipated sophomore debut in the GII San Felipe S. at Santa Anita. Following his debut win at Del Mar in August with a victory in the GI Del Mar Futurity S. Sept. 4, the $630,000 FTSAUG buy passed his two-turn test with flying colors next out, romping by 7 3/4 lengths in the GI Front Runner S. Sept. 30. Favored to keep his perfect record in tact in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile back in San Diego Nov. 4, the bay overcame a slow start and wide journey to be third behind Good Magic (Curlin), who beat him again at the Eclipse Awards, but finished a lackluster third when making his seasonal bow in last weekend's GII Fountain of Youth S.
Bolt d'Oro was originally scheduled to start his season in the Feb. 10 GII San Vicente S., but bypassed that race due to some soreness. Hall of Famer Javier Castellano takes over the reins on the Ruis Racing runner, who enters off a best-of-93 half-mile in Arcadia Mar. 5.
“I want a good race out of him, but not a super race, because our goal here is the [GI] Santa Anita Derby and from there, if all goes well, the [GI] Kentucky Derby,” owner/trainer Mick Ruis told the Santa Anita notes team. “That said, I think he has enough talent to win [the San Felipe].”
An ultra-impressive first-out winner here Oct. 28, McKinzie crossed the wire second in the Dec. 9 GI Los Alamitos Futurity, but was promoted to first after the disqualification of his stablemate Solomini (Curlin). The bay was last seen winning the one-mile GIII Sham S. Jan. 6.
Kanthaka (Jimmy Creed) came running late to score an 11-1 upset in the San Vicente and makes his first try beyond seven furlongs here. GIII Robert B. Lewis S. top two Lombo (Graydar) and Ayacara (GB) (Violence) also return in this spot and the former looks like the speed of this race. He may be joined on the front end by recent maiden winner Aquila (Union Rags), who earned an 88 Beyer Speed Figure for his front-running 2 1/4-length graduation over this track-and-trip Feb. 16.
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