McKinzie, Bolt d'Oro eye rematch in Santa Anita Derby

ARCADIA, Calif. – The controversial disqualification of McKinzie in favor of Bolt d’Oro in the San Felipe Stakes on Saturday was still on the minds of the participants on Sunday morning at Santa Anita, but the fact that both 3-year-olds furthered their Kentucky Derby aspirations, came out of the race well, and likely will meet again in the Santa Anita Derby had many looking forward to Round 2 in their budding rivalry.

“The rematch should be super, for Santa Anita and the fans,” Mick Ruis, who trains and owns Bolt d’Oro, said at Clocker’s Corner on Sunday morning. “But if we don’t have to run again against McKinzie, that would be okay too.”

Ruis was thrilled that Bolt d’Oro ran as well as he did in his first start since suffering his first loss in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. He had been scheduled to run in last month’s San Vicente Stakes before missing training time with what was diagnosed as a pulled muscle in his hind end. He had had a nuclear scan to see if there were any structural issues impacting his poor training at that time, but none was found.

“To think that nine weeks ago he was getting a nuclear scan," Ruis marveled. "He’s good today. Legs are ice cold, he was nipping at me. I'm super happy."

Ruis said that Bolt d’Oro “was only 80 percent” for the San Felipe. “He should be really good for the Santa Anita Derby,” he said.

He said that even if Bolt d'Oro hadn't been declared the winner, "I was proud he got that close to McKinzie" in his first start in 4 1/2 months.

Ruis said Bolt d’Oro would walk for three days, then jog for about a week before resuming galloping, but said he could return to galloping sooner depending on how much the race took out of him.

“We’ll let him tell us,” Ruis said. “I thought he might be tired today, but his eyes are bright. He’s a good horse.”

Both Bolt d’Oro and McKinzie got Beyer Speed Figures of 101.

McKinzie suffered the first loss of his career owing to the disqualification, but he had been placed first via disqualification in the Los Alamitos CashCall Futurity in December.

His trainer, Bob Baffert, on Sunday said McKinzie “was great at the barn afterwards" and "was good this morning," but Baffert was still upset over McKinzie having his number taken down.

"What upset me is these horses had just thrown down, it's raining, and it took them a long time to justify taking him down. That's indefensible. If you're gonna do it, just do it," Baffert said.

Baffert said he was proud of the effort put forth by McKinzie to hold off Bolt d’Oro in the stretch run.

"He showed he's the real deal," Baffert said. "He was ready in case of a throw-down. It's too bad the stewards got involved. It was a thrilling race.

“I’m still paying for Bayern,” Baffert said, referring to the controversial decision to leave Bayern up in the 2014 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita after a rough start that involved Shared Belief. “You got to let ’em play a little bit.”

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