Bolo successfully defends Arcadia title with late surge
Bolo surged between horses late to become just the second ever to win the Grade 2 Arcadia Stakes twice and the first to ever do it in consecutive years.
Breaking well from the rail, Bolo was a bit rank in the early stages of the race while What A View gunned from post 3 to establish himself on the lead. Racing on the rail in third initially, jockey Mike Smith was finally able to get Bolo to relax. Ohio raced to their outside, and Ring Weekend brought up the rear.
What A View, with Conquest Enforcer hot on his heels, set comfortable splits of :23.74 and :46.92. The running order did not change until Ohio moved past Bolo in the far turn to take over third while What A View continued to sail along on the lead, putting up six furlongs in 1:10.98.
As the field hit the top of the stretch, Conquest Enforcer took on What A View in earnest, and that due put a couple lengths between themselves and the other three runners in the field.
What A View repelled Conquest Enforcer and looked like a winner, but behind them, Bolo had recovered third and was surging late with Ring Weekend trying to go with him. Showing an explosive turn of foot in the final strides, Bolo rushed past What A View to nab the win by a head. What A View was second, Conquest Enforcer third, Ring Weekend fourth, and Ohio fifth and last.
The winning time was 1:34.51 for the one mile turf event.
All times were adjusted post-race as the official clock malfunctioned. Initial splits were posted as :22.53, :44.73, 1:06.83, with a final time of 1:29.83.
Winning jockey Mike Smith, who also won the Grade 2 Santa Maria aboard Vale Dori one race prior, explained just why Bolo was so difficult in the opening quarter. “It’s his first race back (in seven months) and it’s his first time wearing a rubber bit. I had a bit of trouble. He’s so strong; it’s like pulling on the barn. If you give him daylight, he’ll just run off with me, which he’s done before,” Smith stated.
“I thought I had a good shot through the lane,” Smith continued. “When Graham Motion’s horse [Ring Weekend] came up on the outside of us, it was like Talladega Nights, time to ‘Shake ‘n’ Bake baby!’ He helped me push by What a View.”
Tyler Baze, who was aboard runner-up What A View, was understandably frustrated post-race after losing to Mike Smith for the second straight race; Baze was aboard Santa Maria runner-up Show Stealer who ran her heart out but could not get anywhere near Vale Dori. “I can’t beat Smith!” he exclaimed. “What a View ran good, really good. I’m just tired of getting beat by Smith today. I thought I had it once I fought off Conquest Enforcer, which I thought was the horse to beat. He came head to head with my horse and my horse dug in hard. Especially that last sixteenth of a mile. I thought, ‘Good. We’re home free!’ Then Bolo…it’s frustrating. If Bolo was closer to us, and my horse saw him coming, we might have won. He would have dug back in. He wouldn’t have let that horse go by. He’s a nice horse to ride.”
Off 6-1 odds, the defending Arcadia champion paid $14.60, $4.60, and $2.80. Five-to-one shot What A View returned $5.00 and $3.00, and 6/5 co-favorite Conquest Enforcer returned $2.10. The $1 exacta paid $33.40, and the $1 trifecta returned $84.30.
By Temple City and out of the Chief Seattle mare Aspen Mountain, Bolo was bred by Spendthrift Farm and is owned by Golden Pegasus Racing and Earle I. Mack LLC. A former Kentucky Derby runner, Bolo has found new life on the turf. The two biggest wins of his career both came in the Grade 2 Arcadia, although he did run a good third behind Dortmund in the 2015 G1 Santa Anita Derby.
After last year’s Arcadia, Bolo threw in two awful races, running 10th in the G1 Woodford Reserve Turf Classic and 9th in the G2 Eddie Read. He was then sidelined for the rest of 2016.
“Carla and her crew are wonderful. He had a breathing problem and they’ve taken care of that. They got him to this race and he just ran dynamite. I’m happy he ran the way he did today,” said Smith.
Keith Brackpool spoke on behalf of the winning connections and winning trainer Carla Gaines afterwards. “He’s something else, this horse,” he said. “Carla and I were saying, ‘Get third, get third,’ then, “Get second, get second.’ I didn’t think we had won until I saw the replay - amazing.”
Brackpool then indicated that the Grade 1 Frank E. Kilroe Mile on March 11 could be next up for Bolo. What A View won last year’s edition, and Ring Weekend won the 2015 edition of the race.