“Yeah. I mean, it's been pretty crazy,” admits owner and breeder Joey Peacock, Jr.

Peacock, a resident of San Antonio, and his family have been in the horse business for the better part of 5 1/2 decades, but never has there been one like Senor Buscador to grace their New Mexico-based barn. And it all starts with a daughter of a virtually unknown son of Fappiano who won no fewer than seven black-type races at Zia Park and Sunland Park for Peacock's father and trainer Todd Fincher. She has managed to one-up herself in the breeding shed, with five winners from five to race, four of those full stakes winners and two graded winners.

Not bad for a mare by….checks notes…Desert God?

The Pride of New Mexico and 'Mining' For Gold

“I think that early on, people look down their noses at her being a 'New Mexico-bred,'” he said of Rose's Desert. “But if you really look at the pedigree, I mean, she's by a horse who was an unraced son of Fappiano out of a mare that won the [GI] Kentucky Oaks. I mean, let's be real, that's a pretty solid pedigree.”

That Kentucky Oaks winner is the 1982 victress Blush With Pride (Blushing Groom {Fr}), whose daughter Better Than Honour (Deputy Minister) was broodmare of the year in 2007. More on how this part of the pedigree fits in below.

“There's a lot of times that you have great racemares who don't end up being great broodmares, but we were just always confident in her. And she's a big mare, so it wasn't like we had limitations when we were talking about stallions, like we were trying to overcome anything,” Peacock explained.

He continued, “She had speed. She had size. She didn't have anything that we had to try to breed to improve, which really opened us up to really go to anybody that we wanted to stallion-wise. Right or wrong, we are 100% all in on that pedigree and that bloodline. We haven't sold any of Roses Desert's offspring and don't intend to. I just think it's something that we can take and build on and look back 20 years from now and say, 'Oh my God. Look what happened starting with Rose's Desert.' I tell you, I wouldn't trade our broodmare with anybody else's broodmare.”

The decision to send Rose's Desert to Mineshaft, on the surface at least, is an interesting one. The Peacocks successfully mated the mare to the likes of Ghostzapper (Grade III winner Runaway Ghost and SW Our Iris Rose) and Curlin (MSW Sheriff Brown). A four-time Grade I winner and Horse of the Year in 2003, Mineshaft has been a reliable sire of racehorses, if not perhaps in the same league as a Ghostzapper or Curlin.

“My dad was still alive when we bred to Mineshaft, and so he would get the stallion book every year and go through it, and what he really liked to see–he liked to see horses that had a decent amount of races in their career, which to him indicated soundness,” Peacock explained. “He liked to see horses all through the pedigree that made money, which to him was a proxy for ability at the racetrack. And then to see a horse that had the stamina to go the classic distances, and Mineshaft fit all those, checked all those boxes. So he wasn't a big stud fee, $10,000, but you know what? So what?

“We were not handcuffed by the fact that we were breeding to market to the sales, which I think drives most breeding decisions. So we were sort of free of that obligation of trying to get a sales horse. We just wanted to breed a good, sound, solid race horse, and as you can see, we got fortunate and that's what turned out to be.”

The cross of A.P. Indy over the Blush With Pride family needs little introduction, as it has resulted in the likes of Belmont winner Rags to Riches–by A.P. Indy himself; GSW & G1SP Casino Drive (Mineshaft); MGSW/GISP Greatest Honour (Tapit); Canadian SW Cascading (A.P. Indy); and Modeling (Tapit), the dam of champion MGISW Arcangelo (Arrogate).

And Mineshaft himself is out of Prospectors Delite, a mare by….well, does anyone know how Senor Buscador translates into English? If you didn't, you do now.

An Immediate Hit

Peacock, who boards his mares at Shawhan Place in Kentucky, reports there was nothing remarkable about Senor Buscador's upbringing, but the same couldn't be said about the year 2020, the colt's juvenile season. The Coronavirus was on the lips and minds of everybody, and in its own way, it wreaked havoc on the Thoroughbred industry. Among the types of decisions it impacted were the otherwise-inane discussions of just where to run one's horses.

“New Mexico shut down and we were trying to find a race for him because he's ready to go, and so Todd took him to Remington Park and after that first race, Todd said, 'This horse is–you don't get horses like this very often. This horse is special,'” Peacock said. “So when he said that, I started paying a lot more attention. Not that I don't pay attention to our horses, but I mean, I started getting excited because he doesn't ever really offer any kind of glowing remarks like that.”

Senor Buscador and Rose's Desert | Courtesy Shawhan Place

Having rallied from last to debut a 2 1/2-length winner in November 2020, Senor Buscador romped by 5 3/4 lengths in the Springboard Mile the following month, but the colt was a flat fifth at 5-2 behind Mandaloun (Into Mischief) in the GII Risen Star S.

“We had the fastest two-turn dirt Beyer for any 2-year-old when he won the Springboard, so my phone started ringing off the hook first thing in the morning after that race, and then we decided we weren't interested in selling the horse, so we were headed to the Risen Star,” Peacock said.

“We thought the horse was going to run well. Didn't have his patented late kick. We ended up sending him to Dr. Tommy Hays in Elgin, Texas, and turns out he had chipped an ankle. So Dr. Hays took the chip out, said, 'Good news. We got it early. It hadn't been floating around. It didn't do a bunch of other soft tissue damage, so let's just give him time off,' which we did.”

Dashed Derby Dreams 

Having also been forced to miss the 2018 Triple Crown trail with Senor Buscador's GIII Sunland Derby-winning half-brother Runaway Ghost, Peacock was compelled to regroup and was pointing Senor Buscador to a fall campaign in 2021.

“I think we gave him four months off, and then we were training him to come back for the Zia Park Derby in New Mexico, and then Todd gets to the barn one morning and his right rear hock is just…he can't even put his foot on the ground,” Peacock said. “It's swollen beyond belief. I mean, he got injured in the stall and then that thing got infected and there's very little blood flow to that part of the hock.

“So we had to have another surgery, go in and clean out the infection, try to get the antibiotics to where they needed to be. It ended up being a long, drawn-out affair. I mean, the veterinarians were like, 'We don't know how this is going to go.' We weren't not talking about [being] a racehorse anymore. We're just talking about survival.”

But survive he did, finishing third to fellow World Cup entrant Laurel River (Into Mischief) in the GII Pat O'Brien S. at Del Mar before winning the 2022 GIII Ack Ack S. at Churchill Downs. He reportedly bled when eighth to Cody's Wish (Curlin) in the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile.

Connections continued on undeterred into a 5-year-old season, confidence still well intact, and Senor Buscador backed up their opinion with a 13-1 upset in the GII San Diego H. ahead of a sound fourth in the GI TVG Pacific Classic in early September. A respectable third in the GI Awesome Again S., Senor Buscador made up a fair bit of ground in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic to be seventh.

Some might have called time on the season after a seventh start in eight months, but they pressed on to the GI Cigar Mile H., where Senor Buscador finished an anti-bias runner-up.

“We were thinking about the Pegasus all along and hoping that based on that Cigar effort, we'd get the invitation and sure enough we did and we felt good about our chances there,” Peacock said.

With the nine-furlong race run to suit his relentless closing style, Senor Buscador rallied past all the competition bar National Treasure (Quality Road) and not long after the race crossed the finish line, Fincher's phone was ringing.

“The Saudi people had been talking to us after the Cigar, and of course Todd gets the call, shoot, five minutes after the Pegasus,” said Peacock. We're standing together after the race and he got the invitation.”

Riyadh Riches

A decided outsider in the $20-million G1 Saudi Cup, consistent form and all, Senor Buscador was so far out of it in the early stages that Peacock and team were struggling to find him.

“I'll be honest with you. We had no idea where he was,” Peacock admitted. “We watched it from the paddock because we couldn't get back to our seats. There were so many people at the track that we couldn't get back to where we were sitting, so we just decided we'd watch it from the paddock and we watched it on the Jumbotron.

“They've got the chase car inside the rail videoing the front-runners. But when they came into the stretch, of course anytime he's running, I'm looking at the middle of the racetrack to try to find something that's closing and we could see him coming down the middle of the stretch. So yeah, we didn't get the opportunity to get excited until it was almost over. Our goal for the year was to get Senior Buscador a Grade I win and never dreamed it'd be the Saudi Cup, but heck, if you have to pick one to win, he picked a good one.”

And now it's on to the World Cup, the second of a two-race lease with Saudi owner Sharaf Mohammed S Al Hariri.

“He's doing great,” Peacock confirmed. “It was funny. When he went to Saudi, the first few days he was a little lethargic, and I guess it's just jet lag, just like us. But he started really picking it up after he was there, I think on the third day, and then continued through the race. Oscar, who is Todd Fincher's right-hand man who's there with him and gallops him every day said he's doing great. Galloping great. He's happy. He's eating well. He's training good. I mean, we couldn't ask for things to be going better at this point.”

Peacock said he has engaged informally with a handful of individuals regarding a potential stud deal.

“I want to see him in Kentucky,”he said. “I mean, I think he deserves that opportunity. Again, right or wrong, we 100% believe in the pedigree and I just think he deserves that opportunity, so we'll see if we can make it happen or not.”

And what would his dad think of what Senor Buscador has accomplished?

“Oh, wow. Well, first of all, I'm not sure he would've ever let Todd take the horse to Saudi,” Peacock chuckled. “I think that's the first thing. But no, he would be tickled to know that we have a horse that's running on the world stage that can compete on the world stage and arguably one of the biggest races on the world stage.

“So yeah, I would have to say he would be very excited about that. And the fact that we own the mare and we own every one of his brothers and sisters, it just really makes it that much more special for our family.”

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Now sitting atop the Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings on 121, National Treasure (Quality Road) and Senor Buscador (Mineshaft) both began their 2024 campaigns in the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S. in January, which saw the former defeat Senor Buscador by a neck.

Following that effort, they both travelled to the Middle East to compete in the G1 Saudi Cup. Senor Buscador raced in the back of the field before rallying to defeat Ushba Tesoro (Jpn) (Orfevre {Jpn}) by a head, who was weighted on 120 for this week's list. Saudi Crown (Always Dreaming), who was three-quarters of a length back in third, came next on 119, while National Treasure finished fourth.

Ushba Tesoro shares the joint-second position in the rankings, along with G1 Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup winner Romantic Warrior (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) and Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), who won the Listed HH The Amir Trophy in Qatar Feb. 17.

Joining them with 120 points is Private Eye (Aus) (Al Maher {Aus}). He finished second by a head in the G1 Black Caviar Lightning S. to Imperatriz (Aus) (I Am Invincible {Aus}), who made the list with 119.

Click here for the full list of ranked horses.

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That makes this a surprisingly congested zone, ample for separate assessment. And since clinging to a five-figure fee somewhat represents a show of faith, some of these sires tend to have a fair case in their favor. At a time when fees are widely perceived to be challenging, this is a nook that harbors some decent value.

It is broadly populated by three types. First are the veterans who have achieved an honorable viability over the years (and we know how difficult that is) but are now suffering the commercial prejudice in favor of fresher blood. On the other hand, we have a bunch of younger guns, typically riding out the bumps between the vogue of novelty and distrust of racetrack exposure. And then there are a few in between, horses in their prime who have settled into a workable niche that keeps them competitive with the next tier up.

The senior group is headed by a remarkable pair, both about to enter their 20th year at stud, with a body of work behind them that will forever embarrass the vast majority of this lot. And there's plenty of life left in MINESHAFT, judging from seven stakes scorers this year (one for each of his lifetime Grade I winners) at a ratio that Uncle Mo, Medaglia d'Oro and Tapit have barely matched. A 1-2 in the GII Cigar Mile showcased his continued prowess, both Hoist the Gold and Senor Buscador already owning wins at that level earlier in the year. The former is now in the millionaires' club, and will soon be joined there by the latter assuming he perseveres in 2024.

SKY MESA is still more neglected, yet similarly remains in the top 15 active sires by lifetime earnings, with ratios of black-type and graded stakes action that measure up respectably against all but the elite names. Remember that these old boys can draw some venerable influences close: Sky Mesa's first three dams are by Storm Cat, Affirmed and Round Table, yet the continued vigor of his family has been lately evinced by his half-sister's son Maxfield (Street Sense). Mineshaft's first three dams, meanwhile, are by Mr. Prospector, Hoist the Flag and Herbager (Fr)! Both Mineshaft and Sky Mesa have superb families and to be able to access their blood, relatively undiluted by the huge books nowadays flooding the gene pool, is a diminishing opportunity too obvious to any enlightened breeder to require the formal gilding of a place on the Value Podium.

Really I should have them both up there, but they covered 40 mares between them last year and that tide is hardly going to turn at this stage. Happily, we know them to be in good hands and they will remain long cherished once their service is finally over.

Ditto another veteran, MIDNIGHT LUTE, who had a few more mares than that pair last spring but again hardly the numbers commensurate with his five elite winners–including not just Midnight Bisou but more recently Smooth Like Strait, himself now launching a stud career at a bargain fee–and the solid ratios that also keep him inside the top 20 active sires.

At the other end of the spectrum, meanwhile, most of the younger sires are awaiting the emergence of their first runners. (By the way, don't forget that we gave the absolute beginners a separate assessment, at the outset of this series, highlighting the claims of one standing at this fee in COUNTRY GRAMMER.)

One of the younger guns that has already tested the water on the racetrack, however, has done so with quite promising results. For while COLLECTED found himself in a very competitive intake, his first sophomores this year included winners of the GII Del Mar Derby, GII Pennine Ridge S. and GII Black-Eyed Susan S.

Drain the Clock | Sara Gordon

Among several only just embarked on their new careers, INDEPENDENCE HALL and especially DRAIN THE CLOCK have some big numbers behind them–unsurprisingly, in view of the 101 Beyer clocked by the former in his record-margin romp in the GIII Nashua S., or the similar precocity displayed by the latter as prelude to his GI Woody Stephens success. TACITUS, HAPPY SAVER and IDOL were contrasting brands, on the margin of the elite around a second turn but amply demonstrating the functionality of their aristocratic genes. Happy Saver, in fact, has none other than Weekend Surprise replicated top and bottom: she's his third dam, while her son A.P. Indy is the damsire of Super Saver.

The latter has another son trading in this bracket in RUNHAPPY, whose fee slips despite producing a GI Hopeful winner in the $12,000 yearling Nutella Fella. We saw another glimpse of the real Smile Happy in the GII Alysheba S., meanwhile, and the stakes are now pretty minimal for those keeping the faith with Runhappy.

A couple of nuggets at this level are the Lane's End pair, THE FACTOR and TONALIST. The former had a quiet year by his very consistent standards, and needed to come down in line with his yearling yield, but there's no knocking a stellar lifetime ratio of two winners to three named foals. As for Tonalist, a single horse has blatantly distorted his earning power but what Country Grammer has represented much more fairly is all the toughness one would hope to inherit from Tapit over Pleasant Colony. It's heartening to see that this was recognized by as many as 115 mare owners last spring, twice as many as Tonalist entertained in 2021.

Another farm that demands a visit for those working to this kind of budget is Spendthrift. Admittedly its $10k trio have all long shed the novelty value prized by its more commercial clients, as was clear when their latest yearlings entered the ring. Continued demand in the breeding shed, however, suggests that people can glimpse a different type of value here.

Sure enough, on the track JIMMY CREED produced another three graded stakes winners including the evergreen Casa Creed, whose Fourstardave H. win was his fourth at the top level. Jimmy Creed is carving out a very viable place at this level, with his book back up into three figures last spring, and only narrowly misses joining one of his neighbors on the podium.

VALUE PODIUM

Bronze: HONOR A.P.
Honor Code–Hollywood Story (Wild Rush)
Lane's End $10,000

Honor A.P. | Sarah Andrew

This is our clear pick among the many young stallions whose farms are hoping that this kind of fee will prove only a foundation, once some actual runners can attest to their genetic prowess.

That, of course, is the reverse of the usual scenario. As a rule, the commercial market backs away faster and faster, the closer a stallion gets to the unsparing exposure of the racetrack. Everyone knows that most young sires will fail, and tries to ride their fleeting commercial momentum. If you truly believe in a horse, however, this is the time to double down.

Only where could you hope to find a combination of top-class pedigree, physique and performance for just 10 grand? Well, right here at Lane's End–that's where.

Honor A.P. beat the subsequent Horse of the Year at Santa Anita, and did so fair and square. He would surely have gone close to doing so again, but for his nightmare trip in the September “Derby”. The matter was left unresolved by his further misfortune, but nobody could deny that he had ticked the performance box in the little opportunity he had.

Physique? How does $850,000 Saratoga yearling sound?

And as for the genetic package, he's out of a Grade I winner (at both two and five) by a sire from one of the great modern families. True, Honor Code himself has proved a rather disappointing sire, to the extent that he recently became another far-sighted “rescue” by a Japanese industry prepared to play a longer game. Honor Code promptly came up with Honor Marie's GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. as something to remember him by, but his departure is probably good news for his son. It must have been difficult to launch Honor A.P. alongside his own sire, when the latter had failed to pull away into a higher tier of the market.

Honor A.P. now gets a clear run even as he prepares to launch his first runners. He made a perfectly solid sales debut, his 48 yearlings processed at $55,145 highlighted by a $375,000 colt. Just because Honor Code did not prove consistently potent, that doesn't alter the fact that Honor A.P. converted a stellar genetic legacy into something luminously functional on the track. Unsurprisingly he struggled for numbers in his third book, but we've been given every incentive to hang in there with a fee cut from $15,000. With luck, his quality will start to now take his mares past those floundering against the dull tides of quantity.

Silver: FROSTED
Tapit–Fast Cookie (Deputy Minister)
Darley $10,000

Frosted | Darley

Could it be that Frosted has finally reached a point where he becomes a value proposition?

There's no denying that he has been a letdown to this point. The fastest GI Met Mile winner in history retired with his 123 Beyer as the most expensive option of the 2017 intake, at $50,000, and averaged around $225,000 with his first yearlings. And here he is, after 344 starters, still waiting for that breakout Grade I winner.

In the meantime, his fee has slumped consecutively until settling at $10,000 last year. But if we reset our bearings accordingly, we'd have to concede that he has had a quietly productive campaign, his 18 black-type performers including three graded stakes winners (plus one in Australia). True, he's still benefiting from some of the classy mares he received early on: Keeneland Grade III winner Frost Point, for instance, is out of a Grade I-winning millionaire. So we'll have to see whether he can maintain this kind of output with rather lesser raw materials, but it's very striking that last spring Frosted moved his book up from 108 to 154.

Evidently the kind of commercial breeders who could not initially afford him have by no means given up on the gray, and it may be that a different kind of cocktail will shake some fresh flavors–as a sprint influence, for instance, and even as a turf one, as in the case of globetrotting Jasper Krone–out of a horse that once seemed to have the world at his feet. After all, he traded 66 of his latest crop of yearlings at $65,475, which would do very nicely indeed off this kind of fee; while one sold for $50,000 in the previous crop soared to $900,000 at OBS in April.

Frosted is still only on his fourth crop and that leaves ample scope for a market thaw.

Gold: CROSS TRAFFIC
Unbridled's Song–Stop Traffic (Cure The Blues)
Spendthrift $10,000

Cross Traffic | Spendthrift

This horse has endured some dazing fluctuations since being crowned champion freshman by multiple indices in 2018. His reward in 2019 was the attention of 188 mares at $25,000, up from just 60 at $7,500 the previous year. The resulting crop were juveniles of 2022, when 33 individual winners from 79 starters put him second in the all-comers' 2-year-old table, with no fewer than 13 of them earning black-type. And how did they follow through this year? Well, 63 of his 105 sophomore starters won, notably GI Ashland S. winner Defining Purpose. And another 3-year-old filly was on track for a stunning Grade I debut when taking her unbeaten spree of five (Saratoga maiden and stakes at two, another stakes and two graded stakes at three) into the Test S. Her name, you will scarcely need reminding, was Maple Leaf Mel.

From his older stock, Cross Traffic also produced homebred Here Mi Song to win the GIII Commonwealth S for a three-horse program that also includes her dam, an apt measure of the type of service he can perform for the smaller breeder.

Ludicrously, however, his 2020 book plunged by two-thirds and he ended up with only 28 live foals, of which a bare dozen started this year, leaving him submerged in the general sires' table despite 14 black-type performers. He must continue to ride out this slump after another couple of quiet years, but his book last spring responded to his 2022 deeds with a rally to 84.

The hope now must be that Cross Traffic can consolidate the second chance he has earned from those fickle breeders. It will assist his cause that the familiar precocity of his stock tends to be fortified with maturity, after the fashion of near-millionaire Ny Traffic who soaked up four campaigns. Cross Traffic himself, remember, raced only as a 4-year-old, when making up for lost time with a GI Met Mile second and GI Whitney success on just his fourth and fifth starts.

His family has some fairly exotic seeding, albeit no more so than the big horse on this farm. And it is full of runners, not least his dual Grade I-winning dam. She has additionally given Unbridled's Song the mother of Gulfport (Uncle Mo), who won the Bashford Manor by a dozen lengths last year before his promotion to replace Forte (Violence) in the GI Hopeful S. There's some real genetic vigor here, then, and Cross Traffic has now shown twice over-with his juveniles of 2018 and 2022-the kind of crop he can produce if only he's given the chance. And, at this kind of money, a proper, sustained chance is just what he deserves.

Sires At $10,000: Breeders Selections

Fabricio Buffolo | Keeneland

Fabricio Buffolo, Buffalo Bloodstock
Gold Medal: Happy Saver
I think he is a nice example of what a true American dirt horse looks like, especially with such an impressive and powerful shoulder. I think it's hard to not think about his name and not associate it with such a solid and sturdy front end. He was a very good racehorse who showed grit and resilience throughout his races against all the best in the country. He is an interesting young stallion.

Silver Medal: Midnight Lute
When considering the group of stallions with runners standing at $10,000, I think that he stands out with a solid percentage of black-type horses and black-type winners to runners, including five Grade I winners which is not usual at this price bracket.
He's quite versatile with his progeny having good performers on different surfaces and distances, and the key lies in finding a mare that can suit him physically.

Bronze Medal: Jimmy Creed
He is another horse that has done fairly well at this stud fee bracket getting a good percentage of black-type horses compared to others, including some with higher price tags. It's evident that the market can be quite tough on horses like him that have had a decent number of crops, but he has received continued support in the last few years attesting to the confidence that breeders have found in him.

The Factor | Lee Thomas

Elgin Hamner, Prime Bloodstock
Gold Medal: The Factor
If The Factor had not left for a couple of years, I believe he would be a constant top 25 sire. He's great value to have a shot at a good runner.

Silver Medal: Frosted
I was really high on him coming out, he's a strong horse with a strong race record. Love the Tapit over Deputy Minister. Now, he has established himself as a racehorse producer.
He's always top two or three of his crop and gets a bigger, stronger horse than The Factor. They seem to run anywhere and are selling ok. He just needed a couple of big horses earlier.

Bronze Medal: Goldencents
It's hard to make it as a sire, but they run early and often. They don't sell as well as they should (can lack size), but each one born could be a runner.

Honorable Mention: Honor A.P.
No runners yet, but the physical when he stamps them is pretty strong. We have to keep that A.P. blood going, it's the best two turn blood of the last 20 years, and he is one of the last of that line with a shot.

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Starting his 2023 season with a dominating score in Sunland's Curribot H. Mar. 5, he ran fourth in a salty rendition of the GII Oaklawn H., and could not overcome early crowding in the GI Hollywood Gold Cup, finishing fifth behind returning foe Defunded (Dialed In) and GISW & G1SW Country Grammar (Tonalist).

Last after the jump and in the rear of the field for the lion's portion of the contest, Senor Buscador was perfectly content to watch it all unfold as Brickyard Ride and Slow Down Andy dueled for the pace control. Off the rail into the leading bend and five wide around the second as runners closed ranks, he was rolling under a full head of steam as he arrived in the lane in fourth but quickly closing the gap. Drawing alongside a leg-weary Brickyard Ride, who was about to be overtaken by Slow Down Andy, the winner continued his relentless grind to eventually prevail by 1 1/4 lengths.

After the race, both rider and trainer–who picked up their first stakes win of the meet here–were thrilled with the effort, and echoed similar sentiments about the horse's propensity to leave the blocks on the slower side.

“I told him [jockey Geovanni Franco] to just let the horse do his thing, don't panic and start riding early,” said Fincher after the race. “He's got one strong kick. He'll start picking them up at the half-mile pole on his own. Wait as long as you can, then push the button. He'll never do anything but fall back out of the gate, so we needed a good set-up.”

Hailing from a very busy family, a half-brother to a Graded stakes winner and two listed winners, Senor Buscador is out of New Mexican icon Rose's Desert, who made her name dominating that circuit. The 10-time winning racemare found similar acclaim as a producer, and has several young offspring in the wings including 2-year-old filly Aye Candy (Candy Ride {Arg}); a yearling Rose A (Hard Spun); and 2023 colt The Hell We Did (Authentic). That dam visited the venerable Into Mischief for 2024. This is the extended family of GSP Shaker Knit as well as a host of successful Argentinian black-type earners.

Run them down Senor! @franco_geo powers to the finish aboard Senor Buscador to win the Grade II San Diego Handicap. pic.twitter.com/OPGONwFORr

— Del Mar Racetrack (@DelMarRacing) July 30, 2023

Saturday, Del Mar
SAN DIEGO H.-GII, $302,000, Del Mar, 7-29, 3yo/up, 1 1/16m, 1:42.54, ft.
1–SENOR BUSCADOR, 119, h, 5, by Mineshaft
           1st Dam: Rose's Desert (MSW, $626,035), by Desert God
           2nd Dam: Miss Glen Rose, by Peaks and Valleys
           3rd Dam: Snippet, by Alysheba
O-Peacock Family Holdings LP; B-Joe R Peacock Sr. & Joe R Peacock Jr. (KY); T-Todd W. Fincher; J-Geovanni Franco. $180,000. Lifetime Record: 12-6-0-1, $667,427. *1/2 to Sheriff Brown (Curlin), MSW, $558,681; 1/2 to Our Iris Rose (Ghostzapper), SW, $307,880; 1/2 to Runaway Ghost (Ghostzapper), GSW, $783,509. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree or free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Slow Down Andy, 122, c, 4, Nyquist–Edwina E, by Square Eddie. O/B-Reddam Racing, LLC (CA); T-Doug F. O'Neill. $60,000.
3–Brickyard Ride, 120, h, 6, Clubhouse Ride–Brickyard Helen, by Southern Image. O/B-Alfred A. Pais (CA); T-Craig Anthony Lewis. $36,000.
Margins: 1 1/4, 1 3/4, HF. Odds: 13.50, 3.90, 14.20.
Also Ran: Defunded, Tripoli, Royal Ship (Brz), Missed the Cut, American Admiral, Tisquantum. Scratched: Piroli.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

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That's why the handicapping jury should heed the defense attorney for Litigate (Blame), despite a pedestrian 77 Beyer in the GIII Sam F. Davis S. last Saturday. Because everything about this horse tells me that the more he gets tested, the more exemplary he can become.

Before we get to his pedigree, which is copper-bottomed for the job, we need to emphasize that Litigate benefitted from as good a grounding as any Thoroughbred in the crop. All who know and admire John Mayer of Nursery Place are aware of his resolutely self-effacing nature. So let's just put it front and center that this colt was prepared for his vocation at a farm where absolutely no corners are cut, by one of the most respected horsemen in the Bluegrass.

It was typically astute to unearth Litigate's dam, Salsa Diavola (Mineshaft), for just $12,500 down the field in her second (and final) start in maiden claimer at Woodbine in 2016. Her family is saturated with the quality you would expect when Numbered Account (Buckpasser) surfaces as fourth dam; while mating her with Blame, whose third dam is none other than Special (Forli {Arg}), makes Litigate a top-to-bottom aristocrat. He always had a physique to match, too, judging from the $370,000 paid by Centennial Farms as a Keeneland September yearling.

Litigate wins the Sam Davis | SV Photography

Fortunately, Mayer's unyielding modesty will not prevent a due testimonial to his work–and that of his sons Griffin and Walker–from Happy Broadbent, vice-president of Brisnet. He has had a ringside seat to the rise of Litigate, both as Mayer's brother-in-law and as a partner in Salsa Diavola.

“John Mayer is the hardest-working guy I know,” Broadbent says. “Now that the foaling season has started, he won't come off that farm until June, literally until the last mare has foaled. If that means mucking out a 12-stall barn by himself, he'll be doing it to this day. I'm fortunate enough, one, to be his brother-in-law; but also to see first-hand the way he raises these horses. He always does what's best for the horse.”

After a lifetime in the business, Broadbent sets three horsemen apart. All happen to share the same first name; and two of them, to Broadbent's immense gratification, are partners in Salsa Diavola (among several other mares) at Nursery Place.

“The three people top of my list, as far as hardboot horsemen, are my brother-in-law John Mayer, my other partner John Donaldson, and John Williams,” Broadbent explains. “I was fortunate enough to work for him [at Spendthrift] back in 1980, when the first crop of Seattle Slew was going through as yearlings. And with the other two, believe it or not, I have now been partners for 30 years: we bought our first mare in 1993, and we've bought and sold and traded horses together ever since.

“John Donaldson moved here [to Kentucky] from Arizona in '79. He told me recently that the best thing that ever happened to him in this business was walking through the door of my dad's office and getting hired to do bloodstock research. That's how he got started on his career, and how I got started with him too–because I always recognized his great eye for a horse, his knowledge of conformation and pedigree. He does a lot of consulting for Stonestreet, he's heavily involved in the matings of all those mares. So along with all the information that comes through Brisnet, the three of us have all been able to add something different.”

Between them they certainly spotted a bargain in Salsa Diavola, a half-sister to dual graded stakes-winning sprinter Pacific Ocean (Ghostzapper) and the stakes-placed dam of Blamed, a dual Grade III winner by Litigate's sire. Their dam is an Unbridled half-sister to Mutakddim (Seeking The Gold), a prolific stallion in Argentina, out of a Seattle Slew half-sister to the Mr. Prospector siblings Rhythm, a champion juvenile, and Not For Love, the lesser racehorse but superior sire of the pair. The next dam is Grade I winner Dance Number (Northern Dancer), a half-sister to Private Account (Damascus) out of the elite runner/producer Numbered Account.

“At the time we bought Salsa Diavola out of Canada, we felt that Mineshaft was going to be a good broodmare sire,” Broadbent recalls. “And with the deep, blue-hen family she had, we thought we'd take a shot with her. When we claim a filly, or buy one privately, typically we'd look to sell them on. But at the time we'd started to keep a few mares ourselves and this one, with her background and looks, was one we decided to be patient with.”

Admittedly they tested the water with her, offering her with a maiden cover by Ghostzapper at the Keeneland November Sale of 2017, but fortunately she failed to meet her reserve at $130,000.

“And this colt, Litigate, when he went through the ring was just an outstanding individual,” Broadbent recalls. “We've been watching him since; weren't quite sure at first, but then all of a sudden he started firing bullet works. We knew he was in great hands, with Centennial and Todd Pletcher, so we were hoping that something like this was going to happen. Because it's the kind of pedigree we liked to see in the olden days, blue blood all the way. And it just screams distance. He should run all day long.”

Which is just what excited many of us about Litigate: the fact that he was able to win a sprint maiden on debut at Aqueduct in November, despite a pedigree tailor made for the first Saturday in May (not to mention Belmont in early June). He did, admittedly, get outgunned by a flashy talent next time out, but Pletcher relied on him from eight nominations to extend his race record when introduced to a second turn at Tampa Bay. Sure enough, Litigate was able to break clear of a wide draw before dropping inside, then sweeping round rivals while still green in delaying a switch of leads. He will need to keep learning new tricks against more potent competition, but he certainly has the pedigree to keep building.

Salsa Diavola's first four dams are by Unbridled, Seattle Slew, Northern Dancer and Buckpasser; and Seattle Slew recurs along her top line, of course, behind Mineshaft's sire A.P. Indy. But it's the sheer, undiluted quality of the families entwined by the mating with Blame that already makes you hope that Litigate can progress sufficiently to earn a chance at stud. Salsa Diavola's own maternal line we have already sketched out (and it's intriguing that the genes have worked even better in the stallion shed than on the track, in the case of Mutakddim and Not For Love). Her sire's granddam is Up The Flagpole (Hoist The Flag). Blame, as mentioned, goes back through Special to Thong (Nantallah) and the associated dynasty; and his sire Arch is a grandson of Courtly Dee's daughter Althea (Alydar). Find me the weak link in that chain.

Broadbent says that no decision has yet been made on Salsa Diavola's next date, but the team are certainly pleased that they sent her back to Blame after his first cover proved so productive.

“John [Mayer] told me Saturday night that the mare's starting to bag up now and probably about 10 days away from foaling a full-brother or sister to Litigate, so fingers crossed,” he says. “John has always loved Blame, since day one, and we've had some luck with his babies before. He was a hard-knocking racehorse, and an underrated stallion in my opinion.”

No dissent to that view here, the Claiborne stallion having featured as high as the top step of our “Value Podium” among established sires. Even before the rise of Litigate he had already made a game-changing step forward with this sophomore crop, in the role of a highly precocious broodmare sire. Both Forte (Violence) and Loggins (Ghostzapper), who ran the champion so close in the fall, are respectively first foals of daughters of Blame.

So this esteem from breeders who can think for themselves is unsurprising. Only the previous weekend, we had seen how Nursery Place can prosper against the tide. Hot Spell (Salt Lake) was already 11 when added to the broodmare band for $85,000 at Keeneland January in 2015. She'd shown stakes talent in a brief career, but little as a producer and was being culled with a cheap cover. Nursery Place sent her to the upwardly mobile Quality Road, then still standing at $35,000, and the resulting colt made $900,000 as a Keeneland September yearling to a partnership of Bob Baffert's patrons. They called him Hopkins and, while he has made them wait, he's putting it all together now and ran out a decisive winner of the GIII Palos Verdes S.

“So that's two weekends in a row the program has produced a graded stakes winner,” Broadbent says. “Hopkins was an absolute beast when we sold him. We never imagined he might bring what he did, but they've handled him the right way. I give credit to Bob, and to Tom Ryan, for being so patient. He's shown along the way in the mornings that he was going be a nice horse and they have given him the time he needed to do that.”

Actually Broadbent himself is on a particular roll. Because if you go back another weekend, there he was in Palm Beach among the First Row partners collecting an Eclipse Award for their mare Goodnight Olive (Ghostzapper).

“Her winning at the Breeders' Cup was a huge pinnacle for me,” he explains. “I always tell people my blood's not red, but Keeneland green: my mother's grandfather was Hal Price Headley, [co-]founder of Keeneland; and my grandfather Louis Lee Haggin II was president there for many years. So to win a Breeders' Cup race in front of a home crowd, with mom and whole family all there, was very special.”

Broadbent's 87-year-old father-in-law Bill Robbins (along with brothers-in-law Will and Earl Robbins) has also shared the ride with First Row Partners–who had similarly hit the jackpot as co-owners of dual graded stakes winner Nay Lady Nay (Ire) (No Nay Never). She was sold to Juddmonte for $1.7 million at Fasig-Tipton in November 2021, having cost $210,000 as an OBS March juvenile.

“She was the only No Nay Never from his first crop to be sold over here as a 2-year-old,” Broadbent remembers. “I was saying we must be crazy, buying a horse by some no-name sire out of a no-name mare! Next thing you know, he's the hottest young sire in Europe and her full-brother Arizona was winning at Royal Ascot.”

But Broadbent, whose late father Dick founded Bloodstock Research Information Services, knows that such dividends are typically won only by playing the long game.

“My dad revolutionized the horse industry with computerized pedigrees,” he reflects. “It's amazing to think back to what he was doing back in the '70s and '80s, and everything the internet evolved into since. I was fortunate to work for him 23 years, and I'm still with Brisnet after 37 years, doing what I love every day, working in same building, with so many great people.

“When I was young, Dad had me going round every summer learning every aspect of this business, from yearlings to broodmares to stallions to foaling. It's been my passion all the way through, the one thing I really know is to surround myself with good people–which is just what this horse has been all about.

“We've got probably the best group of yearlings we've had in a long time. Salsa Diavola has a Twirling Candy filly that's one of the best on the farm, we think she's going to be a star come September at Keeneland. So let's hope Litigate stays healthy and carries on from here.”

On Monday morning Broadbent telephoned Don Little Jr. of Centennial to offer gratitude and congratulations. He also mentioned how Little's sister Andy, lost to cancer a few years ago, had been at school in Virginia with Broadbent's wife Pattie.

“I told him of that connection, and all the fun the girls had together through college,” Broadbent says. “And Don said, 'Well, we've got an angel looking over the gate, going forward.'

“There's no bigger thrill than to have a horse on the Derby trail. We were fortunate enough, back in 2006, to have a horse we bred, Steppenwolfer (Aptitude), run third. That was just an unbelievable ride he gave us, one of the thrills of my life. The difference in the number of texts and messages you get, between Hopkins and Litigate, is night and day. It just shows you how the Derby captures the imagination. And I know the people around him couldn't be more excited about this horse as he stretches out.”

The post The Happy Blend Behind Litigate appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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“My partners and I typically breed to sell, primarily at the 2-year-old sales,” said Hall, “but if we have one that looks the part, we'll sell the occasional weanling at Keeneland November. That being said, if we feel like the market is being overly critical and we see some blue sky by going to the races with one, we're not afraid to go that route. We like mares that demonstrated some degree of talent, and we focus heavily on physical compatibility between the stallion and mare.”

AFFIANCED (m, 5, More Than Ready–All Star Heart, by Arch), to be bred to Authentic

We purchased Affianced at the recent Keeneland November Sale from Claiborne Farm for $50,000 in foal to First Samurai. A former $410,000 Keeneland September yearling, Affianced is a stellar physical with exceptional balance. While she doesn't have the type of racing credentials we typically pursue, she flashed enough talent in her Santa Anita maiden score to prompt our interest. She's out of a GII-winning Arch mare and is a half-sister to California stakes horse Eccentric Spinster (Distorted Humor). Her progeny will catalog well, so we decided to swing hard and send her to Authentic, who will undoubtedly be a source of commercial home runs. Authentic adds a lot of leg to the equation, something you always have to be mindful of with the More Than Ready influence. As tremendous as he's been as a sire, More Than Ready isn't known for adding leg to his mares.

BACK AT THE RANCH (m, 9, Artie Schiller–Major Allie, by Officer), to be bred to Justify

We purchased Back At the Ranch very inexpensively at the conclusion of her career shortly before her half-brother, Cistron (The Factor), won the GI Bing Crosby S. at Del Mar. She herself won early sprinting at Belmont for Wesley Ward, and went on to win four of 14 and earn $103,185. With the Grade I update under her first dam, we felt like she warranted a season with Improbable last year, and Justify this year. At this stage, I don't think we have to remedy any physical shortcomings while planning her matings, but of course, that could change when her first foals arrive. She's a big, strong mare with lots of balance and curb appeal, so we can go in a lot of directions with her. Justify is as good a physical specimen as we've ever laid eyes on, so on paper at least, this foal should be a standout individual.

BE A LADY (m, 9, Cindago–Storm Hearted, by Lion Hearted), to be bred to More Than Ready

Be a Lady is probably the tallest horse we've ever owned. I believe the farm measured her out at 17.1 after we purchased her for $35,000 at the 2019 Keeneland November Sale. She earned $186,995 sprinting in Southern California, comes from an active family (she's a full-sister to California stakes winner and track record holder Wake Up Nick), and her sire is off to a stellar beginning as a broodmare sire. We kept her with a bigger stallion her first season (Violence), as even big mares can throw a pony their first year. But since then, we've kept her with small/medium types. Given the quality we've seen in her Violence and Jimmy Creed foals, we felt like she warranted an opportunity with an elite sire like More Than Ready, who usually benefits from mares with a lot of leg and scope.

CHU AND YOU (m, 11, You and I–Bronze Charmer, by Volponi), to be bred to Temple City

My wife purchased this mare's Temple City yearling for $27,000 at Keeneland September in 2020. Now named Boise, he won the Gold Rush S. at Golden Gate in December and will run in the El Camino Real on Feb. 12. We were really high on him from the start. So much so that we reached out to his breeders and purchased his dam privately. Rather than overthink things, we decided to send her back to Temple City this year to get a full-sibling to Boise. Chu and You isn't very big, but of course, Temple City and the Dynaformer influence usually compliment smaller mares quite well. You couldn't ask for a better physical than Boise, so we're bullish on going to the well again. At the recent Keeneland January sale, we acquired Chu and You's half-sister, Attyia (Dialed In), who will also visit Temple City this year.

PATTITUDE (m, 10, City Zip–Dancinandsingin, by A.P. Indy), to be bred to War of Will

Within months of acquiring her at the 2021 Fasig-Tipton Mixed Sale, two new stakes winners emerged in her immediate family: Army Wife (Declaration of War), who won the GII Black-Eyed Susan S., and Ellamira (Street Boss), who won the Golden Gate Debutante. Pattitude was already a half to [GSW & MGISP] Scherzinger (Tiz Wonderful) and to the dam of [GSW & GISP] Kitten's Roar (Kitten's Joy), so it's an extremely active family that will really light up a catalog page. Like a lot of City Zips, it's usually best to keep them with stallions that are solid through the hindquarters and have plenty of size/leg, which is why we sent her to Flatter last year and will send her back to War of Will in 2022.

ROLL YOUR EYES (m, 13, Popular–Officer Lea, by Nodouble), to be bred to Mineshaft

At the very end of her career, we acquired Roll Your Eyes for nothing more than a ham sandwich. She was a smallish mare with a top line that had gotten progressively softer during her racing days, but we liked her California stakes form early in her career (she had finished second in the Wine Country Debutante S. at Santa Rosa as a 2-year-old), and she was particularly strong through her forearm, gaskins, and hindquarters. We've gotten nothing but stunning foals from her thus far including a stakes horse (Film Study {Custom for Carlos}) and recent maiden special weight winner in California, Fascinated (Majesticperfection). She's currently in foal to Vekoma and will visit Mineshaft in 2022. Mineshaft is a sire that is well respected in all circles and usually benefits from more powerfully built mares like Roll Your Eyes.

Let us know who you're breeding your mares to in 2022, and why. We will print a selection of your responses in TDN over the coming weeks. Please send details to: garyking@thetdn.com.

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“It's time,” Albarado told DRF. “I've been thinking about this for quite a while now.”

Albarado was most recently in the spotlight for his partnership with Swiss Skydiver, the filly who beat the boys in the 2020 edition of the Preakness Stakes. He was also the jockey of 2003 Horse of the Year Mineshaft, as well as of Hall of Famer and two-time Horse of the Year Curlin, his partnership with the latter including wins in the 2007 Preakness, 2007 Breeders' Cup Classic, and 2008 Dubai World Cup.

Among Albarado's other achievements are a victory in the 2009 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf with Tapitsfly and in the 2011 Breeders' Cup Mile with Court Vision.

Future plans could see Albarado become a jockey's agent in 2022.

Read more at the Daily Racing Form.

The post ‘It’s Time’: Jockey Robby Albarado Set To Retire appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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The news of his retirement was first reported by Daily Racing Form's Marty McGee.

“It's time,” Albarado told DRF. “I've been thinking about this for quite a while now.”

Albarado told McGee that he plans on becoming a jockey agent next year.

Albarado started out at the bush tracks in his native Louisiana and earned his first official win in 1990 at Evangeline Downs. He continued to ride in Louisiana, Arkansas and Illinois before becoming a regular on the Kentucky circuit in 1996. By the mid-nineties, he had established himself as one of the leading riders in the Midwest. In 1998, he won 269 races with earnings of $9,366,585. That same year, he won his first two Grade I races, winning the Three Chimneys Spinster and the Turf Classic at Churchill Downs.

Albarado had his share of injuries and twice fractured his skull, but didn't allow that to slow him down. In 2003, he picked up the mount on Mineshaft and won four graded stakes on him on his way to the Horse of the Year title.
He won his first Triple Crown race in the 2007 GI Preakness aboard Curlin. He rode Curlin in all but one of his 16 career starts, which included wins in the G1 Dubai World Cup and the GI Breeders' Cup Classic. Curlin was named Horse of the Year in 2007 and 2008.

In 2011, he was slated to ride Animal Kingdom in the Derby but suffered a minor injury the week of the race, which cost him the mount. With John Velazquez aboard, Animal Kingdom won the first leg of the Triple Crown.

Albarado was convicted in 2012 of assaulting a former girlfriend, but, on appeal, the charges were overturned. In 2011, he faced similar charges when charged with three counts related to a domestic dispute with his wife. Those charges were later dropped.

Starting in 2019, his business began to slow down. He won just 24 races that year and won 24 again in 2020. But his 2020 season was not without its highlights. He picked up the mount on 3-year-old filly star Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil) and rode her to wins in the 2020 Preakness and, this year, in the GI Beholder Mile. In 2021, he has had just two winners from 93 mounts.

According to Equibase, Albarado has 5,222 career wins from 34,113 mounts and has earnings of $221,560,458.

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Quality Road, a 15-year-old son of Elusive Quality, is led this year by Grade 1 winner and Breeders' Cup Juvenile contender Corniche, Grade 2 winner Astronaut, multiple Grade 3 winner Dr Post, and Grade 1-placed Dunbar Road.

After a standout debut season for his yearlings at auction, Grade 1 winner City of Light will stand for $60,000 after previously standing for $40,000.

A 7-year-old son of Quality Road, City of Light has been represented by a pair of seven-figure yearlings in 2021, including a $1.7-million colt that topped this year's Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

Veteran sire Twirling Candy also saw his fee increase in 2022, going from $40,000 to $60,000.

The 14-year-old son of Candy Ride was led this year by Preakness Stakes winner Rombauer, joined by Grade 1 winner and Breeders' Cup Juvenile contender Pinehurst, Grade 3 winner Gear Jockey, and Grade 1-placed Dream Shake.

Two stallions' fees will be determined by the results at the Breeders' Cup.

Connect, an 8-year-old son of Curlin, is among North America's leading freshman sires, led by Grade 1 winner and Breeders' Cup Juvenile contender Rattle N Roll, who won the G1 Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland in October. He is also the sire of Hidden Connection, who earned a “Win and You're In” berth to the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies after taking the G3 Pocahontas Stakes.

The fee for Liam's Map could also fluctuate by the Breeders' Cup outcomes, starting with a base fee of $40,000. The 10-year-old Unbridled's Song horse has a Juvenile Fillies hopeful in Grade 1 winner Juju's Map.

The roster also includes newcomer Code of Honor, a Grade 1-winning son of Noble Mission whose fee will be announced after his final start in the G1 Clark Stakes.

Following is a complete list of advertised fees for the 2022 stallion roster at Lane's End.

Accelerate – $15,000
Candy Ride – $75,000
Catalina Cruiser – $15,000
City of Light – $60,000
Code of Honor (NEW) – TBD
Connect* – TBD
Daredevil – $25,000
Game Winner – $30,000
Gift Box – $10,000
Honor A. P. – $15,000
Honor Code – $20,000
Liam's Map* – $40,000
Mineshaft – $10,000
Quality Road – $150,000
The Factor – $17,500
Tonalist – $10,000
Twirling Candy – $60,000
Unified – $10,000
Union Rags – $30,000
West Coast – $15,000

*Stud fee pending Breeders' Cup results

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“This is a business of change,” Howard, 72, told DRF. The last year or two, I'd been thinking of doing something like this. Shug recently presented me with this opportunity and I took it. That's the long and short of it.”

Howard is best known for his conditioning of Horse of the Year Mineshaft, as well as Preakness winner and Derby runner-up Summer Squall. Over his 42-year training career, Howard saddled 1,256 winners from 6,934 starters, including 186 stakes races (85 graded). Howard was also the private trainer for Lane's End Farm from 1983 through the late 2000s, when Farish began employing multiple trainers, including McGaughey.

Howard plans to make the transition over the next several weeks.

Read more at the Daily Racing Form.

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