Ruis seeking rare ownertrainer double
Former high school dropout betting big on Bolt d’Oro to win one for the little guys.
LOUISVILLE, KY. — Mick Ruis packed his suitcases for his first trip to the Kentucky Derby as an owner and trainer.
The 57-year-old high school dropout stuffed more than clothing and toiletries in his bags. He feels so strongly about Bolt d’Oro’s chances — the colt is the co-fourth choice at 8-1 — Ruis packed plenty of cash.
“When he dropped from first to fifth or sixth now after he lost the Santa Anita Derby, every week I just put more money in a suitcase to come here to bet on him,” Ruis said. “That’s how confident we are.”
Ruis said he also wagered $1,200 on Bolt d’Oro in Las Vegas when he was 40-1 last year.
“But you can’t put a money value on winning the race,” he said.
Ruis is an anomaly in the sport because he owns, trains and handles much of the work around the barn, all with his horses.
He first came to love racing on a 1979 visit to Agua Caliente in Tijuana, Mexico. Leaving high school, he worked his way up from entry level positions in construction and shoring. He started his first company with $3,000 and sold it six years later for $2.5 million. Ruis used the stake to go into training and racing thoroughbreds, but crashed out in the middle of the last decade. He earned $467,981 in purses over three years before finding himself $1 million in debt.
“Never worked so hard to lose so much money in my life,” he said.
He turned full-time attention to his San Diego-based company American Scaffolding. Driven to find a path
THE KENTUCKY DERBY FIELD 1. Firenze Fire 2. Free Drop 3. Promises Fulfilled 4. Flameway 5. Audible
6. Good Magic 7. Justify
8. Lone Sailor 9. Hofburg
10. My Boy Jack
11. Bolt d’Oro
12. Enticed
13. Bravazo
14. Mendelssohn 15. Instilled Regard 16. Magnum Moon 17. Solomini
18. Vino Rosso
19. Noble Indy
20. Combatant
AE. Blended Citizen back into racing, he built up the company and sold it for a reported $78 million two years ago while keeping a 20 percent stake.
Ruis is faring much better his second time in the sport.
He spent about $2 million on horses to get Ruis Racing underway. One of his purchases — for $635,000 — in 2016 was Bolt d’Oro, named for retired Olympic champion sprinter Usain Bolt and the colt’s sire Medaglia d’Oro.
Some of his family is along for the ride, including wife Wendy. The couple married 23 years ago after knowing each other for three weeks. He was divorced with three kids and she was widowed with two. Together, they had two more.
Most owners with a horse in the Derby for the first time revel in seeing their silks during the post parade.
Once again, Ruis is going his own way. Jockey Victor Espinoza will wear the colors of Spendthrift Farm today. Ruis sold 50 percent of the colt’s future breeding rights to 84-year-old Spendthrift owner B. Wayne Hughes.
A Derby win can generate more clients with good horses for a trainer. But Ruis isn’t interested.
However, he would like to see other owners expand their choice of trainers beyond the sport’s big names. While careful not to criticize the high-profile trainers, Ruis sees himself as the person to stand up for the little guys.
“I would hope if we do good, that’s the message Bolt d’Oro can give,” he said. Servis
Dale
Romans Casse Pletcher Brown Baffert Amoss
Mott Desormeaux Ruis McLaughlin Lukas O’Brien Hollendorfer Pletcher Baffert Pletcher Pletcher Asmussen O’Neill Lopez Albarado Lanerie Lezcano Castellano Ortiz
Smith Graham Ortiz Jr. Desormeaux Espinoza Alvarado Contreras Moore
Van Dyke Saez
Prat Velazquez Geroux Santana Jr. Frey
Weights: 126 pounds. Distance: 1 1-4 miles. 50-1 30-1 30-1 30-1
8-1 12-1
3-1 50-1 20-1 30-1
8-1 30-1 50-1
5-1 50-1
6-1 30-1 12-1 30-1 50-1 50-1