Bolt d'Oro comes into Ocala Breeders' Sales Co. spring sale with momentum

In a class of accomplished freshman sires that includes Triple Crown winner Justify, three other American classic winners, and three other Eclipse Award champions, Bolt d’Oro has been the first to strike.

Bolt d’Oro is the early commercial leader of his class at this spring’s 2-year-old in training sales and sired the sales topper at the elite Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream sale. The young Spendthrift Farm resident heads into this week’s Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co.’s spring sale as one of the first in his class to sire a winner.

“The response has really been a little overwhelming,” Spendthrift general manager Ned Toffey said. “But really, from the beginning, we had breeders calling and raving about their foals, and then their yearlings, and it’s continued right on through. Now you’ve got people watching the breeze shows and just raving about what they see. One after another, people see an impressive breeze, and look down and say ‘Wow, that’s another Bolt d’Oro.’ ”

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Bolt d’Oro, by Medaglia d’Oro, was a multiple Grade 1 winner as a juvenile for owner Mick Ruis, taking the Del Mar Futurity and FrontRunner Stakes, and finishing third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile – precocity that is often rewarded by the marketplace.

The following spring, he continued solid performances, crossing the line second by a head to McKinzie in the Grade 2 San Felipe before being promoted to the victory via disqualification. He also finished second to Justify in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby.

“Very, very precocious himself. Very athletic,” Toffey said.

Bolt d’Oro had a good reception with his first crop at the 2021 yearling sales. Led by a $1.4 million half-brother to Rachel Alexandra at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga selected sale, Bolt d’Oro averaged $145,757 from 105 yearlings sold, more than five times his introductory stud fee of $25,000.

He is now averaging $329,865 from 17 juveniles sold early this year. He recorded the two highest prices for a freshman sire at the season opener, the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co.’s March sale of 2-year-olds in training. He was led by a colt who sold for $900,000 to Hideyuki Mori to rank as the fifth-highest price of the entire sale. Another Bolt d’Oro colt sold for $600,000 to Kaleem Shah, tying for the seventh-highest price.

Several weeks later, Spendthrift added a bullet-working Bolt d’Oro filly to its stable for $1.2 million to lead the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream sale. The filly worked a quarter-mile in 20 2/5 seconds during the under-tack preview show, which Fasig-Tipton cited as the fastest work at that distance since its boutique Florida sale moved to Gulfstream in 2015.

Toffey said that for a stallion to have consistent success at the 2-year-old sales, it requires particular mental and physical characteristics from his offspring.

“The 2-year-old sales are a challenging venue,” Toffey said. “The horses that jump through all these hoops, it says something about their soundness, their ability, their precocity. Their consistency – [Bolt d’Oro] seems to just be getting one after another that handles it very, very well.”

Meanwhile, as juveniles hit the track for the OBS spring sale’s breeze show, which took place from April 10-16, Bolt d’Oro became one of the first freshman sires to record a winner. His first starter, the Arizona-bred colt Pop d’Oro, was a wire-to-wire winner of a 4 1/2-furlong trial race at Turf Paradise. On the same day, Coolmore stallion Mo Town sired his first winner, Mr. Gordy, from his third starter at Keeneland, making these two the early racetrack leaders of their freshman class.

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The OBS spring sale, with four sessions arranged into two books, begins Tuesday. There are 1,231 juveniles – including 23 by Bolt d’Oro – in the catalog. Because this auction offers the largest catalog of the season, and is seen as a market with a broad spectrum of horses for buyers at many levels, the sale is considered something of a bellwether for the national market.

The early season returns for the 2-year-old marketplace have been positive in 2022, continuing the gains of the 2021 market that rebounded from the worst effects of the pandemic. The OBS March sale finished with a 13 percent gain in average and a 25 percent spike in the median, the latter a key figure for the health of the marketplace, particularly the middle market. The Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream sale, which primarily tests the upper market, saw a change of less than 1 percent in the average and posted a steady median.

Last year’s OBS spring sale posted a record gross; an average price of $102,224, which was a gain of 12 percent from the 2020 figure; and an unchanged median of $50,000. The sale leader at $1.5 million was Corniche, who continued to ably advertise the sale by finishing an unbeaten Eclipse Award championship campaign with a victory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.