Throwback Bolt d'Oro among Spendthrift newcomers

Spendthrift Farm struck early to secure Bolt d’Oro for its stallion roster, completing a deal for his breeding rights in the fall of his 2-year-old season, but its relationship with the multiple Grade 1 winner goes back much further than that. Bolt d’Oro’s 10th dam is Hall of Fame filly Myrtlewood, a foundation mare for Spendthrift.

“Much of the breeding success of Spendthrift Farm can be credited to Myrtlewood and her daughters,” Brownell Combs, who bred and raced Myrtlewood, said in “Great Breeders and Their Methods: Leslie Combs II and Spendthrift Farm,” by Mary Marshall. “We had Myrtlewood daughters everywhere. Even if they couldn’t run, you could guarantee that they would throw something that could. They were great broodmares and the absolute essence of our breeding program. The Myrtlewood daughters were like gold – everybody wanted one.”

Myrtlewood, who set or equaled multiple track records and was honored as both the champion sprinter and champion older female of 1936, produced 1942 Kentucky Oaks winner Miss Dogwood and champion Durazna. Her daughters and granddaughters continued to produce top-quality runners, with the female family responsible for 1971 Kentucky Oaks winner Silent Beauty, Canadian Horse of the Year Chief Bearhart, and champions Myrtle Charm, Typecast, and Tudor Queen.

Myrtlewood’s female descendants also were responsible for a number of leading sires, ensuring her influence would live on. Through her first foal, Crepe Myrtle, Myrtlewood was the fifth dam of 1977 Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew, whose champions included 1992 Horse of the Year A.P. Indy, who went on to become an influential stallion, with offshoots including record-setting grandson Tapit. Miss Dogwood was the great-granddam of Mr. Prospector, multiple times a leading sire and broodmare sire.

That family history bodes well for Bolt d’Oro, who traces to Myrtlewood through Durazna’s descendants. The son of Medaglia d’Oro joins 2017 Preakness Stakes winner Cloud Computing and fellow Grade 1-winning newcomers Free Drop Billy and Mor Spirit at Spendthrift, which popularizes its young stallions through creative breeding incentive programs and regional outreach. Spendthrift programs include Share the Upside, which ultimately results in a lifetime breeding right for those who support a young stallion early, and Breed Secure, which delays stud-fee payment until and only if the resulting foal is sold at a profit.

Bolt d’Oro last started when finishing 11th in the Metropolitan Handicap in June for owner and trainer Mick Ruis. He subsequently was moved to trainer Steve Asmussen and freshened, with a long-range goal of starting in the Grade 1 Clark Handicap in November at Churchill Downs as a possible career finale. Bolt d’Oro had been working steadily at Churchill, but emerged from his final published work, on Oct. 17, slightly sore, and the decision was made to retire him to Spendthrift.

“He’s settling in really well,” Spendthrift general manager Ned Toffey said. “We gave him about a week on the farm to settle in and acclimate before we started showing him, but he’s such a good-minded horse. I think the first time we laid eyes on him, we could appreciate that about him . . . He’s a really intelligent horse, and I think that was something that was a good part of his success and is helping him settle in really well.”

Bolt d’Oro won the first three starts of his career, including the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity and Grade 1 FrontRunner Stakes, before finishing third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Del Mar. He returned to win the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes via the disqualification of McKinzie in March, then finished second to eventual Triple Crown winner Justify in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby. He was 12th on the sloppy track in the Kentucky Derby before starting in the Met Mile five weeks later.