BOLO, CATAPULT & RIVER BOYNE HEAD WIDE-OPEN GRADE II, $200,000 CITY OF HOPE MILE (TURF) ON SATURDAY

By Mike Willman —-

BOLO, CATAPULT & RIVER BOYNE HEAD WIDE-OPEN GRADE II, $200,000 CITY OF HOPE MILE (TURF) ON SATURDAY

ARCADIA, Calif. (Oct. 2, 2019)—In what promises to be the best betting race of the weekend, trainer Carla Gaines’ Bolo, John Sadler’s Catapult and the Jeff Mullins-conditioned River Boyne head a wide-open field of 11 three year olds and up in the Grade II, $200,000 City of Hope Mile (turf) at Santa Anita on Saturday.

BOLO
Owner: Golden Pegasus Racing, Inc.
Trainer: Carla Gaines
Idle for 23 months prior to running fifth here in a 1 1/8 mile turf allowance April 28, this 7-year-old gelding by Temple City then executed a gate to wire heist in the Grade I Shoemaker Mile (turf) on May 27, winning by 1 ¼ lengths over top local turf horse River Boyne at 32-1. Subsequently a well beaten eighth at 6-1 in the Grade II Del Mar Mile Handicap on turf Aug. 18, Bolo will be making his fourth start of the year over a course that’s seen him win five races from 10 tries.

CATAPULT
Owner: Woodford Racing LLC
Trainer: John Sadler
Idle since fifth, beaten three lengths as the 3-2 favorite in the Grade II Eddie Read Stakes at Del Mar July 21, this 6-year-old full horse by Kitten’s Joy was fifth by a similar margin to Bolo two starts back in the Shoe Mile, a race in which no one could make up appreciable ground from off the pace. A multiple graded stakes winner and easily the leading money earner in the field with more than $1.5 million, Catapult could well go favored in the City of Hope Mile.

RIVER BOYNE
Owner: Red Baron’s Barn & Rancho Temescal
Trainer: Jeff Mullins
A gem of consistency over the past two years, this 4-year-old Irish-bred colt has been idle since finishing second, beaten 1 ¼ lengths by Bolo in the Shoe Mile May 27 and looms extremely dangerous over a course that he adores With six wins from nine tries over the Santa Anita lawn, River Boyne, who is 8-3-3-0 at one mile on turf, figures to get a stalking trip as he bids for his fourth graded stakes victory.

THE GRADE II CITY OF HOPE MILE WITH JOCKEYS & WEIGHTS IN POST POSITION ORDER
Race 8 of 10 Approximate post time 4 p.m. PT

1. Ohio—Norberto Arroyo, Jr.—123
2. Synchrony—Joe Talamo—125
3. True Valor—Drayden Van Dyke—121
4. Restrainedvengence—Martin Garcia—121
5. Big Score—Mike Smith—121
6. Catapult—Rafael Bejarano–121
7. River Boyne—Ruben Fuentes—121
8. Kingly—Mario Gutierrez—118
9. Prince Earl—Geovanni Franco—125
10. Andesh—Abel Cedillo–121
11. Bolo—Tyler Baze—125

First post time for a 10-race card on Saturday is at 12:30 p.m. For additional information, please visit santaanita.com or call (626) 574-RACE.

–30–