Bolo shows he's back with a vengeance in Shoemaker Mile
ARCADIA, Calif. - Two years after his last stakes appearance, Bolo scored an improbable victory with a pacesetting upset in the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile at Santa Anita on Monday.
The win came 17 months after Bolo was taken out of training with a tendon injury that threatened his career.
Keith Brackpool, the former Santa Anita chairman who heads Golden Pegasus Racing Inc. partnership, which owns Bolo, and trainer Carla Gaines gave the gelding more than a year off before Bolo resumed training last winter.
The $501,404 Shoemaker Mile was the second start of Bolo’s comeback, preceded by a fifth in an optional claimer on April 28.
:: MEMORIAL DAY SALE: Save 50% on Formulator PPs, DRF Plus access, and handicapping reports
In the Shoemaker Mile, Bolo ($67.80) led throughout under jockey Florent Geroux and won by 1 1/4 lengths over 6-1 River Boyne. The second-longest shot in the field of nine, Bolo finished a mile in 1:34.07.
“It’s fantastic,” an elated Gaines said in the winner’s circle.
The win gave Bolo a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Mile here on Nov. 2 through the Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re In program.
Bolo was one of eight graded stakes winners among the nine runners in the Shoemaker Mile, the richest turf race of the six-month Santa Anita meeting, which began on Dec. 26.
Riding Bolo for the first time, Geroux guided him to the lead a few strides away from the start and they led by at least a length throughout. Bolo set fractions of 23.51 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 46.95 for a half-mile.
Gaines feared Bolo was setting too fast of a pace at that point.
“When I saw 46 and four, I was a little worried,” she said. “I walked this turf course this morning. He doesn’t like the turf course when they’re too soft.”
Officially, the turf course was rated good on Monday, which worked for Bolo. He led by a length with a quarter-mile remaining and was in control through the stretch.
Geroux and Gaines did not form a specific plan for the Shoemaker Mile.
“She gave me free rein,” Geroux said. “She said, ‘If there is speed inside, you can stalk them.’
“He broke so sharp I thought, Why take him back from here?”
River Boyne, a five-time stakes winner against 3-year-olds in 2018, closed from fourth in the final furlong to gain second under jockey Flavien Prat, finishing a nose in front of 18-1 Bowies Hero.
“It was a good race,” Prat said. “I had a clean trip. I was able to save some ground when I could.”
Bowies Hero closed from eighth in the final quarter-mile. The Shoemaker Mile was Bowies Hero’s second start of the year. He was sixth in the Grade 3 San Francisco Mile at Golden Gate Fields on April 27.
“He’s getting there,” trainer Phil D’Amato said. “He was a jump away from second.”
Sharp Samurai finished fourth in his first start of 2019, followed by Catapult, Ohio, Delta Prince, Le Ken and Desert Stone.
Delta Prince, who won the Grade 1 Maker’s 46 Mile at Keeneland on April 12, was sixth or seventh early and encountered trouble in the stretch. He was beaten a little more than a half-length for third.
“He lost his momentum,” jockey Joel Rosario said. “He was coming on better at the end.”
Bolo, who finished 12th in American Pharoah’s Kentucky Derby in 2015, won his fourth stakes and first Grade 1 in the Shoemaker Mile. By Temple City, Bolo has won 6 of 19 starts and earned $976,870.
Bolo was sixth in the 2017 Shoemaker Mile and was in training at the end of that season before he was sidelined for all of 2018.
With a $300,000 first-place prize, the Shoemaker Mile was his richest payday.
“This means the world,” Gaines said. “He took me to the Derby. We didn’t do so well, but he took me to the Derby.”
The job Gaines did to get Bolo back to the races earned the respect of her rivals, notably D’Amato.
“Hats off to Carla Gaines,” D’Amato said. “That’s a masterful job with Bolo.”