The conditioner of racing luminaries Brass Hat and Groupie Doll, Buff Bradley told the Daily Racing Form on Wednesday that he will retire from training Thoroughbreds at the end of Churchill Downs' Spring Meet. The 57-year-old plans to remain in the industry as a small-scale breeder, while seeking a way to help horsemen on the front side of the racetrack.
“Things have changed in the business,” Bradley told DRF, “but beyond that, when my father died almost five years ago, that really changed things for me personally. I love the horses, and I love training, but too many things are different now in my own particular situation. We've settled my dad's estate, my three kids are older now, the financial aspect of the game can be very difficult, and it's almost impossible to get good help on the track anymore … it was just time to make this move.”
Brass Hat, a gelding bred and owned by his father, drew the admiration of racing fans with a track record-setting victory in the G1 Donn Handicap in 2006. Later that summer he fractured a sesamoid, but was able to return to the races. He competed through his 9-year-old season, winning the G3 Sycamore at Keeneland in 2009 in his penultimate start. Overall, Brass Hat won 10 of his 40 starts for earnings of over $2.1 million.
Groupie Doll is a filly Bradley and his father bred together. She won back-to-back editions of the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint in 2012 and 2013, earning Eclipse Awards for each of those seasons. Overall, Groupie Doll won 12 of her 23 starts to earn $2.6 million.
Divisidero was another Bradley star, winning a graded stakes race for three straight years on the Kentucky Derby undercard: the G2 American Turf in 2015, and the G1 Woodford Reserve Turf Classic (now Old Forester) in 2016 and 2017.
Bradley also went above and beyond to save the life of another homebred graded stakes winner, The Player. Winner of the G2 Fayette and G3 Mineshaft, The Player suffered severe injuries in a race in early 2018, and required months of hospitalization including several surgeries. He recovered from the ordeal and is retired to Bradley's farm in Frankfort, Ky.
Overall, Bradley has saddled the winners of 575 races for earnings of over $19 million.
Read more at the Daily Racing Form.
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