Bolt d'Oro to carry Spendthrift silks in Derby

Mick Ruis, owner and trainer of Bolt d’Oro, will be running a horse in the Kentucky Derby for the first time Saturday. For many owners, it’s not only a dream to have a horse in the Derby, but a point of pride to see their silks carried in the race.

But for Ruis, he has used this occasion instead to provide a gift to B. Wayne Hughes of Spendthrift Farm, having told Hughes at Christmas that if Bolt d’Oro made the Derby, he’d carry Spendthrift’s colors.

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It is not, Ruis insisted, because Spendthrift already has acquired the breeding rights to Bolt d’Oro and will stand him at stud upon the completion of his racing career. Ruis said he did it out of admiration for all that Hughes has done, not just in racing – he campaigned multiple Eclipse Award winner Beholder – but, more importantly to Ruis, outside of racing. Hughes, the founder of Public Storage, has donated millions to causes related to health care, most notably cancer, which claimed Hughes's son Parker.

“It was a Christmas gift to Mr. and Mrs. Hughes because we like them,” Ruis said in an interview at Santa Anita more than a week before he departed for the Derby. “The stallion deal was a good deal for him, and for us. He’s a generous man. He does so many things for people that people don’t even know about.

“He saved Mr. Porter’s life,” Ruis said, referring to Hughes helping get Fox Hill Farm’s Rick Porter into an experimental cancer treatment last year in Massachusetts.

– additional reporting by Brad Free