RED-HOT SAWYER’S HILL & CLASSY BOLO HEAD SATURDAY’S GRADE III THUNDER ROAD STAKES

By Mike Willman —-

ARCADIA, Calif. (April 26, 2017)—Resurgent Sawyer’s Hill and multiple graded stakes winning Bolo head a field of seven older horses in Saturday’s Grade III, $100,000 Thunder Road Stakes, to be run at one mile over the Santa Anita turf.

Trained by Kristin Mulhall, Sawyer’s Hill seeks his third consecutive win over the Santa Anita lawn, while the Carla Gaines-conditioned Bolo returns to Arcadia following a lackluster effort in the Grade I Maker’s 46 Mile Stakes at Keeneland on April 14.

SAWYER’S HILL: A 6-year-old full horse by Spring At Last, he comes off perhaps the best two races of his career, a $75,000 claiming score on Feb. 26 and a third condition allowance win on March 30—both in gate to wire fashion Second in a pair of Grade II turf stakes at age three, Sawyer’s Hill, who will be ridden by Martin Pedroza for the fourth time in a row, has ample back-class as he tries graded stakes company for the first time since December, 2014. Owned by Red Castle Farms, he has three wins from six starts on turf and is 17-5-2-3 overall with earnings of $321,280. Additionally, his last two races have produced career-best Beyer Speed figures of 93 (March 30) and 96 (Feb. 26).

BOLO: An impressive winner of the Grade II, one mile turf Arcadia Stakes three starts back on Feb. 11, he was then a close third in the Grade I Frank E. Kilroe Mile (turf) on March 11 and ran an even ninth as the 7-2 favorite in the Grade I Maker’s 46 Mile (turf) on April 14. Although he’s an imposing physical specimen and a two-time graded stakes winner, consistency has become an issue with the 5-year-old son of Temple City, evidenced by the fact he has not won two races in a row since taking the one mile turf Eddie Logan Stakes here in his third career start in December, 2014. Owned by Golden Pegasus Racing and Earle I. Mack, Bolo should be in a stalking position early with Mike Smith back aboard. With a 7-3-1-1 mark at one mile on turf, Bolo is 15-5-1-3 overall with earnings of $663,045.

THE GRADE III THUNDER ROAD STAKES WITH JOCKEYS & WEIGHTS IN POST POSITION ORDER
Race 7 of 9 Approximate post time 4 p.m. PT

1. Perfectly Majestic—Kent Desormeaux—122
2. Twentytwentyvision—Flavien Prat—122
3. Bolo—Mike Smith—126
4. Mithqaal—Rafael Bejarano—122
5. Fabozzi—Corey Nakatani—122
6. Farhaan—Tyler Baze–122
7. Sawyer’s Hill—Martin Pedroza—122
First post time for a nine-race card on Saturday is at 1 p.m. Admission gates open at 11 a.m.

About Us
Santa Anita Park is a Stronach Group company, North America’s leading Thoroughbred racetrack owner/operator. The Stronach Group racetracks include Santa Anita Park, Gulfstream Park & Casino, Golden Gate Fields, Portland Meadows, Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course, home of the world-famous Preakness. The company owns and operates the Palm Meadows Training Center in Florida, and is one of North America’s top race horse breeders through its award-winning Adena Springs operation The Stronach Group is one of the world’s largest suppliers of pari-mutuel wagering systems, technologies and services. Its companies include AmTote, a global leader in wagering technology; Xpressbet, an Internet and telephone account wagering service; and Monarch Content Management, which acts as a simulcast purchase and sales agent of horseracing content for numerous North American racetracks and wagering outlets. The Stronach Group is North America’s premier supplier of virtual online horseracing games, as well as a leading producer of social media content for the horseracing industry.