Grade 2 winner Bourbonic will begin his stallion career in Mexico after selling to Rancho Natoches for $20,000 on Wednesday at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale.
The 5-year-old son of Bernardini raced as a homebred for Calumet Farm, winning four of 19 starts and earning $703,493. He was trained by Todd Pletcher.
After toiling in a pair of New York maiden special weights, Bourbonic dropped in class to take a maiden claiming race going a mile on the main track at Aqueduct. That confidence-building win helped the colt climb the ladder, with a starter allowance win at the same track and distance, and a runner-up effort in a Parx Racing allowance optional claiming race.
Bourbonic left the gate in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial Stakes with the longest odds on the board at 72-1. Under jockey Kendrick Carmouche, he sat in last and closed with a charge to best Dynamic One by a head and punch his ticket for the 2021 Kentucky Derby.
Once again a long price in the Derby, Bourbonic finished 13th, then he came back for the Belmont Stakes, where he finished fifth.
Bourbonic continued to race through the summer of 2023, winning an allowance optional claiming race to start his 5-year-old campaign, and finishing third in the G3 West Virginia Derby in his comeback start from the Belmont Stakes.
Guillermo Elizondo, owner of Rancho Natoches, said he was drawn to Bourbonic for his sire, Bernardini. Elizondo's farm was home to Bold Legacy, a half-brother to Bernardini by Seattle Slew, and he wanted to bring the familiar blood back to Mexico.
“I bought Bold Legacy a year before Bernardini raced,” Elizondo said. “When Bernardini raced, I wouldn't have been able to buy Bold Legacy. I like this bloodline. I like Bernardini. Even though he's best at getting females, I think he's got the blood to get a good stallion. We need these kind of horses here (in Mexico).
“I never thought we were going to be able to buy [Bourbonic],” he continued. “It was a very reasonable price.”
Bourbonic is out of the Grade 2-winning Afleet Alex mare Dancing Afleet, whose three foals to race are all winners, also including Grade 2-placed Avant Garde.
Buckland Sales consigned the stallion prospect as agent.
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If you appreciate our work, you can support us by subscribing to our Patreon stream. Learn more.“He's a big, good looking horse,” said Buckland Sales' Zach Madden. “When you're going up there and five hips before, you're selling a mare, and then you switch to stallion mode, you've got to recalibrate everything. I knew those guys had been back to the barn a few times, and their vet was there, and they were buying mares.
“We knew a few people were interested, and he's a really good horse,” Madden continued. “These guys are super-pumped to have him, so it's hard not to root for them, people that are excited to have their horses.”
Elizondo has been a frequent customer at Keeneland auctions to build his stallion roster. He purchased Win Willy, a multiple Grade 2-winning son of Monarchos, for $45,000 at the 2014 Keeneland November Sale. In 2018, he secured Fayeq, a half-brother to Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra by Malibu Moon, for $55,000.
“Right now, we believe [Win Willy is] the best stallion in Mexico,” Elizondo said. “He's getting very good runners and stakes winners. We just won the 2-year-old champion filly with him (Vanadis Asquifar, Mexico's champion 2-year-old filly of 2022).”
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