Bold Act more fully formed in his return to the United States

Bold Act was just finding himself when he came to Keeneland as a 3-year-old last fall and beat older rivals in the Sycamore Stakes. A half-year later, the competition will find 4-year-old Bold Act too much to handle Saturday in the Grade 2, $350,000 Elkhorn Stakes.

Keeneland’s feature over 1 1/2 miles on turf drew 11 entrants. Bold Act, Frankie Dettori to ride for the first time, is 3-2 on the morning line. Expect a shorter price than that.

Trained by Charlie Appleby for Godolphin, Bold Act has a classic late-developing career arc. He won his last three starts as a 2-year-old and made it four in a row in his 3-year-old bow, and while Bold Act was beating low-level competition out of the limelight, Appleby laid groundwork for growth. That came decisively last summer, when Bold Act ran third in a pair of Group 3s over 1 1/4 miles. Trying 1 1/2 miles last September, Bold Act had a troubled trip at Saint-Cloud, and he came to Keeneland set for a breakthrough.

Getting just three pounds from the horses just behind him, Bold Act had to wait for room around the last of three turns in the Sycamore, slicing inside and between horses with a 22.80-second final quarter mile, posting a three-quarter-length victory over the capable older horse Cellist.

Bold Act wintered in Dubai and his lone start there, March 2 in the Group 2 Dubai City of Gold, showed off an improved model. Bold Act traveled through the 1 1/2-mile race with a new confidence and fluidity. Without being asked, he cruised to the lead in upper stretch and won decisively, his 119 Timeform Rating easily a career best.

“He’s a well-traveled horse now,” Appleby said. “He’s got experience in America, experience around Keeneland, and his preparation has gone well. If he were to go and win in the right style, we’d start working back from the Sword Dancer,” a Grade 1 at Saratoga.

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Appleby also runs Silver Knott, who made his last five starts of 2023 in America. Silver Knott hasn’t won since October 2022, hasn’t won at a distance beyond one mile, and tries 1 1/2 miles for the first time. His dam was Grade 2-placed at 1 1/2 miles, and Appleby believes the longer distance will suit Silver Knott’s running style, which has entailed racing on or near the lead. A good, solid pace enhances Bold Act’s already strong chance.

Missed the Cut, for what it’s worth, has become California’s leading grass horse in races at 1 1/4 miles or longer. Missed the Cut has won two straight stakes – each over roughly the same competition – for trainer John Sadler, whose last Keeneland winner was Flightline in the 2022 Breeders’ Cup Classic.

Missed the Cut has a touch of positional pace and a decent kick. A wide draw in post 10 with a short run to the first of three turns does him no favors.

Winning Spirit makes his North American debut for trainer Christophe Clement after racing at age 2 and 3 for trainer Peter Schiergen in Germany. Three of the colt’s four wins came in Italy, a lower-tier European jurisdiction, and facing real competition in the German Derby, Winning Spirit was beaten eight lengths.

Winning Spirit hasn’t raced since Aug. 30, a month shorter layoff than The Grey Wizard, one of two layoff runners for trainer Graham Motion. The other is Grade 1 winner Highland Chief, whose hasn’t been out since the 2022 Breeders’ Cup Turf at Keeneland, where he was 12th. Motion said Highland Chief, who won the 2022 Sycamore over this course, suffered a tendon injury that required a break of about a year.

“It’s a lot to ask. He’s done as much as I can do with him,” Motion said Wednesday from Florida. “He even had an easy five-eighths before he left this morning.”

The Grey Wizard is a true 1 1/2-mile horse who won his 2023 debut going that distance in a Keeneland allowance. He had an impossible trip in his most recent start, the Bowling Green, after which connections gave the gelding a lengthy break. The Grey Wizard was entered last week in a Keeneland allowance race that was rained off turf.

“He hasn’t done that much wrong. I think he’s capable of running in these races, but I don’t know about after so long a layoff,” Motion said.

The Grey Wizard can outrun expectations. What he can’t do is beat Bold Act.

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