A horse owned and trained by Columbia Falls developer Mick Ruis will go off as one of the favorites in the 144th Kentucky Derby, Saturday, May 5 at Churchill Downs.
As of April 30, Bolt d’Oro was the second choice in the tentative field at 18-5 according to www.sportsbook.ag. Justify, who beat Bolt d’Oro in April’s Santa Ana Derby, is the odds-on favorite at 3-1. Post positions for the race were drawn May 1, with Bolt d’Oro drawing the No. 11 spot in a 20-horse field. Justify will start in the seventh position, inside Bolt d’Oro.
The second-place finish in Santa Anita Park was Bolt d’Oro’s third top-three finish in a major race in the last year. The colt won the FrontRunner Stakes at Santa Anita Park in the fall and was third in the Breeders Cup Juvenile in November.
The Derby will be broadcast live on NBC with coverage beginning at 12:30 p.m. The full field will be called to post at 4:46 p.m.