Bolo's connections torn between Big Cap, Kilroe Mile
ARCADIA, Calif. - Bolo’s win in the $200,000 Arcadia Mile on turf at Santa Anita on Saturday kept trainer Carla Gaines occupied in the hours after the race.
Asked on Sunday how many times she had watched the replay, Gaines said, “about 500.”
There was much for her to like while reviewing the race. In his first start since July, Bolo stalked pacesetter Obviously and rallied in the final strides to win by a neck at 7-1. The Grade 2 Arcadia Stakes was the first graded stakes win for Bolo, who finished 12th behind American Pharoah in the Kentucky Derby last May.
The win has left Gaines and the partnership that owns Bolo debating on a next race. A start on March 12 is highly likely in the $1 million Santa Anita Handicap at 1 1/4 miles on dirt or the $400,000 Frank Kilroe Mile on turf.
“We’ll have to think about it,” Gaines said.
The Kilroe Mile may not include Obviously. Trainer Phil D’Amato said on Sunday that he will consider passing the Kilroe with Obviously and resting the 8-year-old until May or June.
“We’ll see, but we may wait for the later races or at Del Mar” in the summer, he said.
Instead, D’Amato may run Midnight Storm, a 5-year-old who won the Grade 2 Seabiscuit Handicap at Del Mar in November in his most recent start.
Om, a three-time stakes winner against 3-year-olds on turf in the final four months of 2015, finished third in the Arcadia Stakes in his first start against older horses. Om was third throughout the Arcadia Sakes and was beaten three lengths by Bolo.
“He still ran third in a Grade 2,” trainer Dan Hendricks said. “He didn’t run one of his best race. We’ll come back in the Kilroe.”
Bolo, by Temple City, has won 4 of 9 starts and has earned $408,700.
A colt, Bolo races for Earle Mack and the Golden Pegasus Racing partnership of Santa Anita chairman Keith Brackpool; Tim Ritvo, the chief operating officer of The Stronach Group, the parent company of Santa Anita; and Alon Ossip, the chief executive officer of The Stronach Group.