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‘In Best Shape Of His Life,’ 7-Year-Old New York-Bred Our Last Buck Scores Initial Stakes Win

Saturday's victory in the $100,000 Say Florida Sandy for Our Last Buck at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y., rewarded the patience of trainer Michelle Nevin and owner J and N Stables, who saw the gelded son of Courageous Cat make his first stakes appearance in his 18th career start.

For besting a five-horse field of New York-breds 4-years-old and up by 3 3/4 lengths in his 7-year-old bow, Our Last Buck earned a personal-best 96 Beyer Speed Figure. The rallying score saw Aqueduct meet-leading rider Kendrick Carmouche pick off three rivals with a strong outside move when straightened for home in the seven-furlong sprint, outkicking 4-5 favorite and runner-up Funny Guy.

“I was very fortunate and excited and I'd just like to thank Michelle and Kendrick,” said owner Thomas Newkirk, who heads the Saratoga Springs-based J and N Stables. “Kendrick gave him a neat ride. It looked like at the head of the stretch that he could go inside or outside, and he chose correctly.”

The effort marked the first stakes victory for the ownership group, which started racing in 2012 and entered Saturday with a 9-8-10 record in 65 career starts. J and N Stables still owns a stake in Our Last Buck's dam Buck Mountain.

“We still own an interest in Buck Mountain, so we might have some more offspring coming and we're excited about that possibility,” Newkirk said.

Bred in the Empire State by Gerardus S. Jameson, Our Last Buck broke his maiden at second asking in November 2018 at the Big A under previous trainer George Weaver. After being transferred to Nevin's care in 2019, he enjoyed a career resurgence, winning five of his six career races since his 6-year-old campaign last year.

Our Last Buck, who won back-to-back races starting at Aqueduct on March 15 and then over Big Sandy during Belmont Park's spring/summer meet, is now on his second career winning streak, with his stakes effort following a 1 ½-length victory against allowance company on December 12 at the Big A.

“It takes a little bit of patience,” Newkirk said. “He had a couple of operations before and we gave him some time to heal. It's great now to see a 7-year-old do this. He's probably in the best shape of his life right now.”

Newkirk praised NYRA's New York-bred program for providing opportunities for the late-blooming Our Last Buck to reach his potential.

“It's a credit to NYRA that they have a 4-year-old up and classification for those older horses,” Newkirk said. “The New York-bred program is just awesome and I think it's the right thing to do for the owners and breeders in the state. Not everyone can go down to Florida, and I think the Aqueduct cards make it a great place to be.”

Newkirk said he's also excited for the impending 3-year-old debut of homebred Dancing Buck, who broke his maiden at second asking on New Year's Eve at the Big A. The War Dancer colt, who ran second in his debut on November 29 at the same track, could make his next start later in the winter meet.

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Kentucky Oaks Winner Shedaresthedevil Back At Oaklawn; May Target Azeri Stakes

Shedaresthedevil, among the country's leading 3-year-old fillies of 2020, returned to Oaklawn in around 4 a.m. (Central) Saturday, according to her co-owner, Staton Flurry of Hot Springs.

Shedaresthedevil wintered last year at Oaklawn and won its $300,000 Honeybee Stakes (G3) in March before going on to capture an allowance race at Churchill Downs, the $200,000 Indiana Oaks (G3) and the $1.25 million Kentucky Oaks (G1) Sept. 4 at Churchill Downs.

Following a third-place finish in her first start against older horses, the $400,000 Spinster Stakes (G1) Oct. 4 at Keeneland, the Daredevil filly received a 60-day break, Flurry said, before resuming light training in mid-December in Kentucky. Trainer Brad Cox said the $350,000 Azeri Stakes (G2) for older fillies and mares March 13 at Oaklawn is a possible first 2021 target for Shedaresthedevil.

“Glad to have her back on track and back here,” Flurry said. “She looks phenomenal. It seems like she enjoyed her time off and it did her well. She's put on some weight and seems very bright eyed. Excited to see what 2021 holds in store for her, beginning with the Azeri.”

The Azeri is the final major local prep for the $1 million Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) April 17. Cox said champion Monomoy Girl is pointing for the second race in the prep series, the $250,000 Bayakoa Stakes (G3) Feb. 15, for her 2021 debut. Monomoy Girl is based at Fair Grounds.

Oaklawn's first major Apple Blossom prep is the $150,000 Pippin Stakes Jan. 23. Nominations to the 1-mile event closed Thursday.

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What’s in a Name: Motherly Instincts, Little Gems of Wordplay from Mamas’ Names

BLACK MAGIC WOMAN, 1-7-21 winner at Gulfstream. Dam: DAZZLING SONG. BLACK MAGIC WOMAN is a 1968 song which became a world-famous hit in a 1970 Santana arrangement, even if it was a Fleetwood Mac number originally. 6th-Gulfstream, $40,000, Msw, 1-7, 4yo/up, f/m, 1m, 1:36.42, ft, 3 3/4 lengths. BLACK MAGIC WOMAN (f, 4, Uncle Mo–Dazzling Song, by Unbridled’s Song). Lifetime Record: 4-1-0-2, $41,360. O-Bass Stables, LLC; B-Ramona S. Bass, LLC (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher.

HYPOTHETICAL, 1-7-21 winner at Meydan. Dam: PEUT ETRE, French for ‘perhaps’, ‘probably’ (literally: ‘it may be,’ without the necessary pronoun, which makes it an adverb). 5th-Meydan, Hcp., AED105,000, NH/SH 4yo/up, 1600m, 1:38.03, ft. HYPOTHETICAL (IRE) (c, 4, Lope de Vega {Ire}–Peut Etre {Ire} {GSP-Fr}, by Whipper) Sales history: 550,000gns Ylg >18 TATOCT. Lifetime Record: 5-2-0-0, $33,277. O-Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohd Al Maktoum. B-Knocktoran Stud (Ire). T-Salem bin Ghadayer.

SCALES OF JUSTICE, 1-9-2021 winner at Turfway. Dam: BALANCE. Fairness has its roots in equilibrium and symmetry, from times immemorable. 5th-Turfway, $31,190, Msw, 1-8, 3yo, 1m (AWT), 1:39.09, ft, 1/2 length. SCALES OF JUSTICE (c, 3, Uncle Mo–Balance {MGISW, $1,048,491}, by Thunder Gulch). Lifetime Record: 2-1-0-0, $20,340. O-Andrew Warren & William K. Warren, Jr.; B-Cloros Bloodstock (KY); T-Michael W. McCarthy.

BRASSY, 1-9-2021 winner at Tampa Bay Downs. Dam: CHEEKY CHARM. Connection believed to be self-evident, as it is said of some truths. 8th-Tampa Bay Downs, $21,500, Alw, 1-9, (NW1X), 4yo/up, f/m, 1mT, 1:37.05, fm, nose. BRASSY (f, 4, Medaglia d’Oro–Cheeky Charm, by A.P. Indy). Lifetime Record: 5-2-0-0, $48,286. O/B-Godolphin (KY); T-Eoin G. Harty.

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Leading North American Breeders For 2020: A Different Take

Last week, The Jockey Club released its list of leading North American Thoroughbred breeders for 2020, proclaiming Calumet Farm as the top breeder for the second year in a row.

Sure enough, the historic Lexington, Ky., farm owned since 2012 by reclusive billionaire Brad Kelley was atop the list of individual breeders with more than $9.7 million in 2020 North American earnings by horses it bred. If you take partnerships into account, Kenny Troutt's WinStar Farm in Versailles, Ky. – second behind Calumet on the individual list – was the North American leader with $11.7 million in earnings.

I don't judge the quality of restaurants or decide where to eat by looking at who generates the most revenue. If I did, I'd wind up at McDonald's three meals a day. So it stands to reason that there must be another way to look at this year-end list, which includes statistics for the top 100 breeders by North American earnings. The data includes starters, starts, wins, seconds, thirds, earnings and black type stakes winners.

I took the liberty of adding a few statistical columns that provide some context to the leading breeders list, including average number of starts per starter, percentage of wins from starts, average earnings per start and percentage of black type winners from starters.

The list below (which excluded a handful of breeders with fewer than five starters each) ranks North American breeders by average earnings per start. Topping the list in this category is Knowles Bloodstock ($55,847 per start), which had just six starters but included Grade 2 Louisiana Derby winner Wells Bayou among them. Second is Peter E. Blum Thoroughbreds, whose $22,705 average was buoyed considerably by the $7,170,000 earned by probable Horse of the Year Authentic.

Ranked 74th on the list of leading breeders by average earnings per start is Calumet Farm, whose 479 runners averaged $3,776 per start. WinStar Farm, with 214 starters, ranks 19th nationally with $8,122 earnings per start – more than twice that of Calumet.

Another way of looking at excellence in breeding is black type winners. Sheikh Mohammed's Godolphin and Barbara Banke's Stonestreet led the way with each breeding 13 North American stakes winners. WinStar and Calumet were next with 10 each.

If you look at the list by percentage of black type winners from starters (minimum five starters), Knowles Bloodstock again leads the way with 33.33% (2-of-6), followed by China Horse Club International Ltd, with 16.67% (4-of-24).

Stonestreet ranks ninth by percentage of stakes winners from starters, at 8.55%, with Godolphin 12th at 8.02%. WinStar Farm is 33rd at 4.67% and Calumet Farm is 62nd at 2.09%.

So who was the top North American breeder in 2020? If you go by quantity, it's Calumet, which had 75% more starters than runner-up WinStar Farm. In my opinion, quality trumps quantity.

Category leaders listed in bold/italics.

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