Bolt d'Oro rises to top of first-crop sires standings

TwinSpires.com is following prominent first-crop sires whose two-year-olds are hitting the track this season. The first winners for Bolt d’Oro were profiled in the opening installment.

Bolt d’Oro has ascended to the top of the earnings list for 2022 first-crop sires after a handful of his progeny succeeded in recent stakes efforts, helping the Medaglia d’Oro son surpass fellow first-crop sire Justify — who beat Bolt d’Oro in the 2018 Kentucky Derby.

Since our first profile on Bolt d’Oro, the seven-year-old has had added five more winners to bring his total to 15, from a total of 49 runners, with three offspring triumphing in stakes races.

Boppy O leads the way with Grade 3 win

Bolt d’Oro got his first graded winner with Boppy O on Aug. 31, when the two-year-old, out of a Scat Daddy mare, upset a field of seven in the With Anticipation S. at Saratoga. The Mark Casse pupil went off as a 23.10-1 longshot in the 1 1/16-mile turf event and bested 2.40-1 second choice Battle of Normandy by a neck under jockey Dylan Davis.

Boppy O now has two wins from three career starts. He made his first trip to the winner’s circle on debut as the even-money favorite in a $65,000 maiden special weight run at five furlongs at Gulfstream Park on May 20, then attempted the Grade 3 Sanford S. at Saratoga on July 16 and finished 10th of 12 after he brushed the inside of the gate breaking from post 1.

The bay colt beat six rivals in the With Anticipation S. and clocked a career-best 83 Brisnet Speed figure in his first try at a route distance. The $190,000 purchase at the 2021 Keeneland September yearling sale has earned $140,000 thus far.

Mounsieur Coco dominates at Gulfstream

Three days prior to Boppy O’s Grade 3 victory, Bolt d’Oro got his first stakes winner in Mounsieur Coco, who romped to a 4 1/2-length win in the Proud Man S. at Gulfstream Park.

Out of a Bandini mare, Mounsieur Coco went off as the 0.50-1 favorite and stalked the pace before cruising to a lead midway around the turn.

The Fausto Gutierrez trainee has won two straight after failing as the 1.50-1 favorite on debut when bumped at the start in a $55,000 maiden special weight run at six furlongs on the Gulfstream dirt.

Owned by St. George Stable LLC, the same connections who own multiple-graded-stakes-winning mare Letruska, Mounsieur Coco broke his maiden in his second career start, a five-furlong sprint on Gulfstream’s All-Weather track, where he posted a career-high 88 Brisnet Speed rating in the 6 1/2-length victory.

He again relished the Tapeta course eight days later in a step up in class as he beat a field of six in the 5 1/2-furlong Proud Man S. in a final time of 1:04.16.

It’s Bobs Business a winner at Canterbury

This month, It’s Bobs Business added to the stakes tally for Bolt d’Oro’s babies, dominating in the $100,000 Northern Lights Futurity at Canterbury Park. The two-year-old has won by a combined 19 lengths across two career races.

Out of Sales Call, a mare by 2005 Wood Memorial (G1) hero Bellamy Road, It’s Bobs Business broke his maiden in a 4 1/2-furlong sprint at Canterbury on June 30 and recorded an 82 Brisnet Speed rating. He improved that figure to 87 in his stakes win while beating seven rivals.

New winners and upcoming entries

Among Bolt d’Oro’s other recent winners, From Dusk, by a Giant’s Causeway mare, made his first trip to the winner’s circle Sept. 3 in a 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint at Kokura Racecourse in Japan, and Bolt’s Broad broke her maiden on second try in a one-mile dirt event Sept. 9 at Del Mar.

The filly is owned by Ruis Racing LLC and trained by Shelbe Ruis, the daughter of Mick Ruis, who conditioned Bolt d’Oro for the majority of his career.

Five two-year-olds are looking to get their first taste of victory in upcoming races at Churchill Downs. Communication Memo and Daryl’s Bolt are both entered in the same $120,000 maiden special weight sprint Sept. 17, while the filly Bolt for Allison will try a mile in Race 2 on the same card.

Bolted, another filly, races over a mile in Race 7 at Churchill Sept. 16, while Hard to Come By, a two-year-old ridgling, contests a one-mile maiden special weight on the opening day of the track’s fall meet, Sept. 15. He most recently came in second by a head to favorite Deer District in a one-mile turf event at Ellis Park on Aug. 12.