Ruis puts Bolt d'Oro under consideration for Preakness 2018
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Days after saying he was done taking on Justify, a horse he calls a "monster," Bolt d'Oro owner and trainer Mick Ruis indicated his colt is under consideration for the 2018 Preakness Stakes after all.
Reporter Hank Wesch, who handled public relations for Bolt d'Oro leading up to the Kentucky Derby, tweeted that Ruis said the horse is Preakness-bound, "if all goes well in training and we have a good track on race day."
Since finishing 12th in the Derby over a sloppy surface, Bolt d'Oro, a multiple Grade 1-winning son of Medaglia d'Oro, has resumed training at Keeneland.
“We’re not ruling out the Preakness, but I haven’t decided what I’m going to do with him yet,” Ruis told Keeneland's publicity staff. “He’s training well, but we just don’t know what we want to do.”
In addition to Justify, the only other Derby runner termed probable for the Preakness is sixth-place finisher Bravazo. Good Magic, who was second, is possible to run.
Should Bolt d'Oro not run in the second leg of the Triple Crown series, Wesch tweeted, the June 2 Penn Mile on turf and Woody Stephens going seven furlongs on the Belmont Stakes undercard are options. This represents a change of plans from when Ruis told the San Diego Union-Tribune that Bolt d'Oro would target a top race for 3-year-olds later this summer before taking on older in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic.
Ruis recently purchased, sight unseen, a Kentucky property called Chestnut Farm to center his racing and breeding operations.
“We have a farm four miles away," he said of training at Keeneland, "and we thought this be a good place to relax with ‘Bolt’ – nice, calm, don’t have the hustle and bustle of anything."
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