Kentucky Derby 2018 Daily: Bolt d’Oro back to Plan A
Welcome to Horse Racing Nation’s Kentucky Derby Daily, which will each day leading up to the May 5 race at Churchill Downs detail all the news and notes related to contenders in one convenient space. We've got 121 days to go!
By Jonathan Lintner
News Thursday that Bolt d’Oro will pass on his scheduled 3-year-old debut because a pulled muscle forced him to miss training should not be major cause for concern. The Grade 2 San Vicente Stakes, a one-turn race run in February at Santa Anita Park, wasn’t on the horse’s original road to the 2018 Kentucky Derby anyway.
Back in October, as a then-undefeated Bolt d’Oro prepared for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, owner and trainer Mick Ruis envisioned 60 days off following the race at Del Mar, two preps and then the Derby.
Ruis changed course after the Medaglia d’Oro colt suffered his first defeat, running wide to a third-place finish in the Juvenile. The break was something more like 30 days, with the San Vicente added to the schedule.
Sure, the sprint sharpened up both Nyquist and Exaggerator in 2016, when they went on to win the Derby and Preakness Stakes, respectively. But Ruis bragged throughout Bolt d’Oro’s 2-year-old campaign that he had trained his horse to run route races — and only route races.
In a sense, he’s going back to Plan A with a minor setback of the likes that’s only newsworthy when you’re the early Kentucky Derby favorite.
McKinzie not a final product
Solomini was the better horse, but McKinzie was awarded the win in last month’s Grade 1 Los Alamitos Futurity. Trainer Bob Baffert will take the blinkers off McKinzie for Saturday’s Grade 3 Sham Stakes in hopes of improvement.
Last time out, Baffert told Horse Racing Nation, the Street Sense colt “got a little rank” on the back stretch and forced jockey Mike Smith to go early. McKinzie briefly took the lead in the lane before tiring.
“We’ll know — does he need a little blinker? Maybe not,” Baffert said of the Sham. “I’m just trying to figure out as he’s learning to run."
Bottom line, the trainer said, McKinzie has run only twice, and this extra start won’t hamper him. Plus, “He looks fantastic.”
“You want to learn what their style is,” Baffert said, “so the last couple of preps, you’re ready.”
Dak Attack's drill
Trainer Dale Romans heaped praised upon Dak Attack following his bullet workout Saturday at Gulfstream Park. Now we have video of the 9-5 morning line favorite for Saturday's Mucho Macho Man Stakes.
“It’s a good start back for him,” Romans said this week. “He hasn’t gone farther than (seven) furlongs yet, so it’s a good race to get him started.”
As a one-turn mile, Gulfstream Park’s $100,000 Mucho Macho Man doesn’t award Derby qualifying points. But in the points-paying era, the likes of Itsmyluckyday (2013) and General A Rod (2014) won it to open their 3-year-old campaigns. Last year, State of Honor was second in this race and also went on to run in the Derby.
Get full-field analysis for Saturday’s Mucho Macho Man and past performances.
On the West Coast, Santa Anita Park’s Grade 3 Sham does pay out qualifying points. Goldencents (2013) and Gormley (2017) both launched their sophomore seasons in this race, as did Collected, who didn’t run in the Derby but has gone on to win multiple Grade 1 events.
Get full-field analysis for Saturday’s Sham Stakes and past performances.
The works
Night Strike — With tracks frozen in New York, Maryland, Kentucky and Arkansas, training was limited Thursday. But Erich Brehm, part of the team that campaigned Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Texas Red, has a stake in a colt named Night Strike who managed a two-minute lick at Fair Grounds. Brehm reported that the move went well enough to enter the Grade 3 Lecomte on the Derby trail. A quarter mile into the Springboard Mile at Remington Park, Night Strike was last by 20 lengths but rallied to finish fourth. At long odds, he could be one to watch in the Jan. 13 race.
Derby links
• Along with the Lecomte, the Jerome Stakes will run next weekend, the New York Racing Association announced, rescheduled due to cold weather.
• Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin has his top Derby contenders both pointed to Feb. 3 races. As for which horse goes where, stay tuned.
• Dak Attack's getting the headlines heading into the Mucho Macho Man, but Bal Harbour, a Todd Pletcher trainee, has won consecutive stakes -- and the trainer envisions the horse going two turns again.
In case you missed it…
We kicked off the Derby Daily this week with postings on Tuesday and Wednesday that aged quite well, still packed with relevant news and information looking toward this weekend’s preps.