Playing The Numbers: Bucchero’s Third-Book Breeders To Join On Group Lottery Ticket

There is no shortage of comparisons to the lottery in the horse racing business.

A horse that receives the best characteristics of its parents is said to have hit the genetic lottery. One that's sold for well above its expected value is often compared to hitting the jackpot, while the buyer of that same horse will say the prospect is their lottery ticket toward success on the track, and hopefully the breeding shed. Then, the ticket printer starts humming all over again.

For breeders who book their mares to Florida stallion Bucchero in 2021, the hyperbole is put to the side. They're getting an actual lottery ticket.

To help drum up support for the stallion in his third crop, typically a challenging book to fill for any sire, managing partner Harlan Malter will buy a $2,000 lottery ticket in July, and anyone that sent a mare to Bucchero this year has the option to join it. One mare bred equals one share in the group ticket.

Malter has never been one to shy away from promotional hooks for the Grade 2-winning son of Kantharos. When the stallion's first foals were born last year, he designed a website to show them off and create a marketplace to buy and sell the foals. Each season at stud has seen a unique incentive program, from offering lifetime breeding rights if his runners win graded stakes races to creating a “lock-in” plan to keep early-book breeders at the same stud fee in the future in the event Bucchero succeeds enough to raise it.

“Each year, I try to think of what would be something as a small breeder that would be fun or exciting,” Malter said. “For about a month straight, the Mega Millions was going up every single month. I think it ended up going over a billion dollars, and I felt like with all the national excitement about the lottery, it just kind of fit the comparison of what breeding is like. It's like the lottery sometimes – you need lightning to strike.

“This one's probably the longest shot,” he continued, “but it'll have the biggest payout if something happens.”

Which particular lottery game would be played with the group ticket was still to be determined. Malter said he'd likely plunk the money down on whichever game had the highest jackpot in July, once the breeding season is over and the list of eligible players was finalized.

Malter said the lotto-ticket comparisons were especially true for breeders in a stallion's third book. By the time the ensuing foals reach the marketplace as yearlings, Bucchero will have two crops of racing age on the racetrack, and his ever-important first crop will be in the midst of its 3-year-old season. The stallion's reputation will be settling in the minds of potential buyers, and a fast start at stud could lead to a windfall for those third-book breeders who will have high-demand product at the right time. On the opposite side of the coin, if those first crops don't come out running, they'll bear the commercial brunt.

Fortunately, Bucchero will have about as many chances to get off the mark quickly as any stallion in North America. The 291 mares he covered in his first two books at Pleasant Acres Stallions was the most of any stallion in Florida over the same timespan. He defied convention last year when he covered more mares in his second book than his first, rising from 130 to 161 from year to year.

“We wanted to highlight that it's an even bigger benefit to the breeder than it is to us, because they'll be sitting on the product in that year,” Malter said. “If the horse does hit, and he'll hopefully have all these chances, we hope it pays off for them.”

Bucchero has a while before his first foals hit the racetrack, but the early commercial indicators have been positive. He was the leading Florida-based sire of newly-turned yearlings by both gross and average, among those with more than one horse sold, with eight sold for a total of $135,000 and an average of $16,875.

“Obviously, I've had a tremendous amount of passion for Bucchero and his prospects, and he was very well received,” Malter said. “I was at the sale talking to people shopping and buying, and he brought the goods. He brought what you would expect from Bucchero.”

In particular, Malter noted that Bucchero's broodmare sire, the leading California sire General Meeting, was showing through in his foals, giving them traits one might not expect from a stallion who was best known during his racing days as a turf sprinter.

“The words that I heard were, 'athletic, strong, very good muscle tone,'” Malter said. “The thing I found most interesting, and I got this from a few people, was 'I think I need to rethink what I was expecting of a Bucchero.' I think the people who have never seen him in person think he was a very fast sprinter, and that you're going to get a stocky, short-coupled horse. What I got from most people was they're scopy, they've got nice leg. I think a good chunk of that is coming through with General Meeting in the bloodline, which I don't think the East Coast saw much of. I was happy to hear from people that he was checking off pretty much all the boxes they were looking for.”

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Tampa Bay Downs: Glyshaw Saddles 500th Career Winner

Tim Glyshaw's immediate reaction to scoring career victory No. 500 in Friday's 10th race at Tampa Bay Downs in Oldsmar, Fla., was tongue-in-cheek, but also reflected the life of a trainer who has experienced numerous highs and his share of setbacks since taking out his license in 2004.

“If I have to wait this long to win the next 500,” he said, to no one in particular, “I'll be really old.”

The head victory by 3-year-old colt Cochise Charlie in the five-furlong turf event in his second career start might have aged the 52-year-old Glyshaw a bit, but he was understandably ecstatic after the Kentucky-bred and jockey Roberto Alvarado, Jr., hung on to defeat Beach Warrior in 57.31 seconds.

“I thought (Alvarado) did a real good job. I'm glad he decided not to ding-dong it on the lead (with pace-setter Good Boy Roy) and kept him a little off of it,” Glyshaw said. “It taught him a little something, and I'm very happy the way he liked the turf. I guess we'll keep him on it now.”

Glyshaw was also happy to win No. 500 for owner Wayne Spalding of Kentucky, for whom he trained 2017 Grade 1 Pattison Canadian International Stakes winner Bullards Alley. “Wayne just got diagnosed with a serious illness, so it is pretty special to win this for him,” Glyshaw said.

Glyshaw, who came up in the sport under the late Bob Holthus, also trained multiple-G2 winner Bucchero, who competed in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint in 2017 and 2018.

“This ranks right up there with going to the Breeders' Cup twice and to Royal Ascot with Bucchero and winning the Pattison with Bullards Alley,” Glyshaw said. “Winning 500 races is something I never imagined doing when I started training.”

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Breeders’ Cup Buzz Presented By Del Mar Ship & Win: Remembering The 2015 Cup

This year's Breeders' Cup not only marks a return to Keeneland Race Course, it also means it's been five years since the event was last held at the Lexington, Ky., track, producing what was one of the most memorable editions in its history.

In the Breeders' Cup Buzz, we're asking some notable Thoroughbred industry names about their experiences with the event and a few hypothetical questions tied to the races.

This week, we asked participants in the upcoming Breeders' Cup to look back at the last time the card was held at Keeneland and recall what memories have stuck with them in the time between.

To view previous editions of the Breeders' Cup Buzz, click here.

Valorie Lund – Trainer

“American Pharoah winning the Classic was awesome. He was doing something that will probably never done again in many years, if ever.”

 

 

 

Aron Wellman – Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners

“Selfishly, we had a runner that year in the Distaff, Curalina. She put up a really game effort to be third behind Stopchargingmaria and Stellar Wind. That was my most vivid memory.”

 

 

 

Harlan Malter – Ironhorse Racing Stable

“I had 2 1/2 to get from Lexington, Ky., to Shelbyville, Ind., to make it from the end of American Pharoah's Classic win to Bucchero's first stakes win as a 3-year-old in the To Much Coffee at Indiana Grand. I'm a big planner, and I was sitting next to my partner saying, 'I don't think we can wait until American Pharoah crosses the finish line.' We had to make a beeline to the car because other people would be trying to leave. I had so much excitement for American Pharoah's race, and I thank him for winning it so convincingly, because we legitimately headed into the tunnel when he passed us, and we were able to get to the car. We arrived in Shelbyville as Bucchero was walking into the paddock. It was the first stakes win for Ironhorse.”

Carlos Martin – Trainer

“American Pharoah putting on a show in the final race of his career, and destroying the field. He was just a magical horse. I was a big fan of his, and to watch him go out to Keeneland and dominate the way he did, and the reception he got, it was just a special, special day.”

 

Jerry Crawford – Donegal Racing

“Donegal Racing had over 125 people at the races that day, and I think that was my biggest memory. It was the year Keen Ice won the Travers, beating American Pharoah, and we, of course, were hoping that he'd repeat that feat in the Classic. That wasn't meant to be, but it was still a very exciting summer and fall of racing.”

 

 

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Florida-Based Bucchero Third-Leading Second-Crop Covering Sire

While Mendelssohn and Justify covered well over 200 mares during their respective second seasons in the breeding shed in Kentucky this past winter, Florida-based Bucchero (Kantharos) claimed the bronze medal, having been bred to 161 mares, according to the Report of Mares Bred released by The Jockey Club late last week.

Bucchero was the first son of Kantharos to enter stallion duty and was bred to 130 mares during his first year at stud at Pleasant Acres Stallions in 2019. His two-year total of 291 mares makes him the most sought-after stallion in the Sunshine State during that period.

Kantharos began his career at Florida before making the move to Hill ‘N’ Dale at Xalapa in late 2016. From his first Kentucky-conceived crop, Kantharos has already sired 15 winners, sixth-best nationally and ahead of such sires as Munnings, American Pharoah and Tapit.

“We were excited to bring the Kantharos bloodline back to Florida and once the breeders were able to see him in person, he really sells himself” commented Joe Barbazon, owner of Pleasant Acres. “Breeders realize that the Florida program and 2-year-old sales put a lot of emphasis on speed and precociousness, and they see that Bucchero checks these boxes.”

Among the second book of mares bred to Bucchero was Queenie’s Pride (Special Rate), the dam of 2020 stakes winner Joy’s Rocket (Anthony’s Cross), who is catalogued to the upcoming Keeneland November sale.

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