Bolt d'Oro, Zatter meet again in FrontRunner

Separated by three quarters of a length last time out, Bolt d’ Oro and Zatter will renew their rivalry as they head Saturday’s Grade I, $300,000 FrontRunner Stakes at Santa Anita. With the top two attempting two turns for the first time, a field of nine 2-year-olds will compete at 1 1/16 miles in preparation for the Grade I Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on Nov. 4.

BOLT D’ORO: Trained by Mick Ruis and owned by his Ruis Racing, LLC, he was away slowly in the seven furlong Del Mar Futurity (Grade I) Sept. 4 and garnered a hard-earned victory over Bob Baffert’s Zatter under aggressive handling from Corey Nakatani.A $630,000 Fasig Tipton yearling purchase in August, 2016, Bolt d’Oro, a Kentucky-bred colt by Medaglia d’Oro, was an impressive first-out maiden winner going 6 ½ furlongs as the 4-5 favorite two starts back on Aug. 5.With a pair of local five furlongs works to his credit since his Futurity win, look for Bolt d’Oro to show plenty of early speed on Saturday.Perfect in two starts, he has earnings of $216,000.

ZATTER: A $160,000 Keeneland September (2016) yearling purchase, this colt by Midnight Lute was off at 3-1 in the Del Mar Futurity, following an impressive 1 ½ length first out maiden win going six furlongs on Aug. 20.Game in defeat versus the top selection Sept. 4, he finished second, 4 ¾ lengths in front of Run Away, who came back to win the Barretts Juvenile at Los Alamitos this past Saturday.Owned by Zayat Stables, LLC, Zatter could well be on the early FrontRunner lead as he tries to turn the tables on Bolt d’Oro in what will be his third start.

THE GRADE I FRONTRUNNER STAKES WITH JOCKEYS & WEIGHTS IN POST POSITION ORDER

Race 8 of 11 Approximate post time 4 p.m. PT

1. Zatter—Rafael Bejarano—122

2. Take the One O One—Joe Talamo—122

3. Ayacara—Kent Desormeaux—122

4. Bolt d’Oro—Corey Nakatani—122

5. City Plan—Drayden Van Dyke--122

6. Texas Wedge—Evin Roman—122

7. Encumbered—Mario Gutierrez—122

8. Solomini—Flavien Prat—122

9. Continental Divide—Victor Espinoza--122