Minor Setback Will Keep Bolt d'Oro Out of San Vicente

Mick Ruis and Bolt d'Oro | Christie DeBernardis

By

Though a nuclear scan revealed that there is nothing wrong with his Grade I winning colt, owner-trainer Mick Ruis Sr. has decided to bypass the Feb. 10 GII San Vicente S. as a precautionary measure with Bolt d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro).

The news was first reported by the Daily Racing Form.

Ruis became concerned last week when he noticed that the colt was a “little body sore.” That prompted him to postpone his first scheduled workout since the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile and order tests.

“He was jogging good, but when you have a horse that is worth $15-20 million you want to make sure he is ok, so I nuke scanned him Wednesday and everything came back good,” Ruis said. “We're ready again to go forward. We never missed a day of training. When they get a little sore like that, I think he might have gotten cast in the stall. I was not going to take any chances with him and start pressing on him right now without taking a nuke scan. It came back perfectly good. He will start galloping again in two days and then we will probably breeze him in about 10 days.”

Because he had to back off some on the horse's training, Ruis does not feel he will have him ready for the seven-furlong San Vicente. However, he doesn't feel missing that race will hinder his chances of accomplishing what remains the real goal–winning the GI Kentucky Derby.

“No, not really,” he said when asked if he were concerned about having the horse at his best for the Derby. “Originally, I was only going to go in the [GII] San Felipe and the [GI] Santa Anita Derby, so I have tons of time. Then I thought it might be a good idea to get him sharpened up with a seven-furlong race like the old school boys used to do. That was the path I was going to take. Also, last year, we had a lot of wet weather and missed a lot of training, so I thought it was not a bad idea to go to the San Vicente.”

Ruis said he could go back to his original plan and run Bolt d'Oro in the San Felipe and the Santa Anita Derby, but added he will now also take a look at GII Rebel at Oaklawn Mar. 17.

“I'm going to be opened minded about it,” Ruis said. “There's also the Rebel at Oaklawn and I might decide that comes at a better time. We will do what is best for the horse.”

Ruis admitted how relieved he was that the test showed Bolt d'Oro is okay.

“'Bolt' came along and you're thinking this might be a once in a lifetime horse,” he said. “You want to just go to the races and enjoy yourself but you're always hoping that with him everything goes right. That sometimes takes out the fun part of. But it's a business. I don't want anybody feeling sorry for me, but it's even tougher because I also own him and I bought him and I train him. One of the other trainers, they spent someone else's $1 million dollars and if that horse goes down they have ten more behind him.”

 

Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.

Copy Article Link

X

Never miss another story from the TDN

Click Here to sign up for a free subscription.