Last of 10 after a half-mile and more than 11 lengths off the early pace, Senor Buscador rallied powerfully under jockey Luis Quinonez to win the $200,000 Remington Springboard Mile Stakes by 5 3/4 lengths Dec. 18 at Remington Park.
Tag: Racing
Last-To-First Rally In Springboard Mile Sends Senor Buscador Onto Derby Trail
Senor Buscador means Lord Seeker in English. Jockey Luis Quinonez must have been saying some prayers in the early going when he was about 17 lengths behind in the field of 10 for the $200,000 Springboard Mile on Friday, Dec. 18 at Remington Park in Oklahoma City, Okla.
Senor Buscador and Quinonez made up every bit of their trailing deficit, and more, to win the Springboard, Remington Park's top 2-year-old offering and a Kentucky Derby qualifying-points race. After making the lead before mid-stretch, Senor Buscador pulled away with ease to win by 5 3/4 lengths.
“He broke bad, but that was good because he settled down on the backstretch,” said Quinonez. “On the turn for home, I thought, 'Oh my God, what a horse I have.' It feels like he can go farther.”
This 2-year-old colt by Mineshaft, out of the Desert God mare Rose's Desert, showed signs of his bloodlines from his 2003 Horse of the Year sire. Mineshaft finished his career that year with three Grade 1 wins in a row, sweeping the Suburban Handicap, the Woodward Stakes and the Jockey Club Gold Cup all at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y. Two of those races came at 1 1/4 miles and the other at 1 1/8 miles. Mineshaft won 10-of-18 starts lifetime for $2.2 million in earnings.
It sure looked like Senor Buscador wasn't stopping as he cleared the field and drove through the finish line without being asked to run by Quinonez.
On the dam side, Rose's Desert's sire was unraced, but she won 10-of-15 starts, albeit in New Mexico, winning $626,035 in her career. That's not easy to do on that circuit. Rose's Desert won most of her stakes sprinting, taking one at one mile.
“She had bad ankles and still did that,” said trainer Todd Fincher. “She did win one around two turns.”
The New Mexico circuit is one Fincher frequents and calls home. He said it doesn't look like their 3-year-old races are going to be a go this year, sending Senor Buscador in search of his next late-running effort.
“We'll see how he comes back tomorrow and then take him to Houston and possibly on to the Fair Grounds (in New Orleans) for their stakes schedule,” said Fincher. “We do what's best for the horse. That's my responsibility. So we'll see.”
Senor Buscador won his first race, a maiden event, at 5 1/2 furlongs by 2 1/2 lengths at Remington Park on Nov. 6, but he was very green in that race.
“The first time he won, he really didn't know what he was doing or what was going on,” said Fincher. “He was really ornery in the post parade. But he was impressive in that race even though he sure doesn't like breaking from the gate.”
Senor Buscador was 10 lengths behind in his career debut after a half-mile and still caught his opponents like they were standing still. He went off at 7-2 odds in that maiden race, and was amazing enough for his fans to knock him down from 15-1 morning line odds in the Springboard to go off at 7-2 again.
Senor Buscador paid $9.80 to win, $5.80 to place and $4.60 to show across the board. Cowan (7-2), a shipper from Keeneland out of trainer Steve Asmussen's barn, was a distant second and he was 3 3/4 lengths ahead of longshot Red N Wild (30-1), who finished the slimmest of noses ahead of fourth place Saffa's Day (9-1).
The 7-5 betting favorite, another shipper from Wesley Ward's barn, Outadore, could do no better than fifth. He had run third in the Grade 1, $1-million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky. in his last start before the Springboard.
The rest of the Springboard order of finish was Joe Frazier (9-1) sixth, Vim and Vigor (61-1) seventh, Number One Dude (9-1) eighth, Flash of Mischief (23-1) ninth and Gushing Oil (33-1) last. Game Day Play was a late scratch after he got loose in the walk over to the paddock before the race, hopping the outside rail on the backstretch, and then going back to his barn.
Senor Buscador wasn't in the same time zone with the Springboard field during the early part of the race. The pacesetters, Saffa's Day and Flash of Mischief, hit the timers in :23.52 for the first quarter-mile, :47.22 for the half-mile and 1:12.51 for three-quarters of a mile. Senor Buscador made the lead at the top of the stretch, reaching the time for seven furlongs in 1:25.69. He stopped the mile timer at the wire in 1:37.87 over the fast track.
Senor Buscador put up a quality time for the mile on the night compared to older horses earlier in the program. Dont Tell Noobody, a 3-year-old Oklahoma-bred gelding, won the one-mile $70,000 Jim Thorpe Stakes in 1:39.50. Dipping In, a 3-year-old Oklahoma-bred filly, won the $70,000 Useeit Stakes at one mile in 1:40.69.
Senor Buscador earned $120,000 for owner Joe Peacock Jr., of San Antonio, and is two-for-two lifetime with $137,247 in earnings. He was bred in Kentucky by the owner and his father, Joe Peacock, Sr., both of San Antonio.
Senor Buscador was the second Springboard win for Quinonez who won aboard Louies Flower in 2013. He provided the first victory in the race for the rest of his connections.
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Fiery Off-Track Quarter Horse Becomes Barrel Racing Star In Two Countries
She lit the board in her career as a racehorse, and now Biscuit De Feu is lighting the board as a barrel horse in two countries.
Biscuit De Feu–whose name is “fire cookie” in French–was bred in California by Bryan and Pamela Scheer, owned during her racing career by Jeannie Baldwin and saddled by champion trainer Kenneth Roberts in Louisiana.
The strapping 2013 brown mare has an unusual racing pedigree, as she is sired by First Down French, a son of one of barrel racing's all-time leading sires, Frenchmans Guy, out of a mare sired by A Classic Dash.
Her dam is High Tide, a daughter of champion runner Ocean Runaway and the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame stallion Strawfly Special's daughter, Casual Slip Knot.
Biscuit De Feu's racing career was limited to two starts as a 2-year-old, including a solid second-place finish, when her connections decided it was time to move her into her new career.
Leanne Marie Sine of Dewinton, Alberta, was looking for something sired by First Down French, who was himself a successful barrel racing horse and sire, and she found Biscuit De Feu on Facebook and bought her.
“She caught my eye,” Sine said. “And then I really liked her bottom side, too.”
The mare, now known as “Ferrari,” moved to her new home in Alberta, and the barn of her owner, who is a professional trainer specializing in reining and barrel racing horses.
Sine's skill has paid off for the mare her owner describes as “an absolute little firecracker.”
The mare was racetrack broke when she arrived, and Leanne was prepared to be patient teaching the horse her new job.
“I took my time with her, went back to the basics and got her really broke,” Sine said. “I train reiners, too, so I put a really strong foundation on her. She's a real sensitive horse and a little bit hotter bred too, so lots of slow work and really took my time with her. I got her broke, broke, broke.”
Ferrari is a workaholic, and is saddled up on average six days a week – she doesn't like taking time off.
They travel to events in Alberta, as well as traveling to the United States to compete. Their first year they debuted in some smaller futurities and events, allowing Ferrari to learn and build confidence. In 2019, the first of her derby years, they began stepping up to bigger events, with placings and 1D wins, including a top 10 finish at the AQHA World Championship Show in Level 2 senior barrel racing.
“She's just full of herself, but a sweetheart to have around,” Sine said. “Just a personality.”
As for 2020, it's the final derby year for the mare and Sine had plans to campaign the mare, but, well, “This year … our plans have kinda got kiboshed.”
“This is her last derby year and I had some bigger stuff planned that we didn't get to do,” she said. “But hopefully (we'll get to) some bigger races and rodeos (when things start back up), we will see what she wants to do.”
This story, which is part of the Second Career Stars series, originally appeared on the American Quarter Horse News website and is republished here with permission. Second Career Stars is an ongoing series on retired racing American Quarter Horses in new careers. If you know of a horse that should be featured, write to acaudill@aqha.org. AQHA News and information is a service of the American Quarter Horse Association. For more news and information, follow @AQHARacing on Twitter, “like” Q-Racing on Facebook, and visit www.aqha.com/racing.
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Beyond The Win: Red Hierarchy Was Worth Waiting For
The road to one Ontario-bred's first win came later rather than sooner, but for the chestnut's connections it made the victory all the more memorable.
For trainer Jamie Attard, watching Red Hierarchy in the seconds before he burst from the starting gate on July 12 at Woodbine Racetrack wasn't an unfamiliar sight.
But this time the scene wasn't just in his imagination.
“In all honesty, he came in with a presence about him when he was a 2-year-old,” recalled Attard. “He was a big, big, handsome colt. I looked at him and everything about him stood out. He just had this really nice look to him. You'd take him out to gallop and he was classy from the start – all about business and a beautiful stride to him. You couldn't wait to see him race.”
At the end of the maiden optional claiming race, contested over 6 ½ furlongs on the Toronto oval's Tapeta, Red Hierarchy, under Justin Stein, was a six-length winner.
He stopped the teletimer in 1:16.14 and returned $13.70 for the win.
The victory, over a year in the making, was exactly how Attard had envisioned it.
“It was a big field the day he won. He passed the front-runner and then started opening up. I was speechless. It's such a good feeling that you knew what you had, but you trusted your gut, you stayed patient and you stuck to the plan. When he crossed the wire, I was happy for the horse. Everything that you had said all along, he just proved it. It was really rewarding that day.”
How Red Hierarchy made his way to the winner's circle on that summer afternoon is a coming-of-age tale, literally.
Bred and owned by Howard Walton's Norseman Stables, the horse that was foaled on March 25, 2017 caught the attention of Attard immediately.
Looks, with a mind to match, made Red Hierarchy a welcome addition to the trainer's barn.
“That's the thing that really puts into your head that a horse could be special,” said Attard. “You have a lot of horses that come through your barn with talent, especially 2-year-olds, but this horse, he had the mind to go with it. Whatever you asked him to do, he did it. He was just so kind and sweet right away. He had the mentality for it.”
For all that Red Hierarchy had going for him, he also had a few issues, albeit minor ones, to be dealt with.
Rushing the horse to the races wasn't an option for Attard.
“Even though we had him gelded, he was still too big for a 2-year-old. Mentally, he was there, but he had issues that all babies go through. And I thought if I push on this horse, I'm going to ruin him. It was just that realization that he's not meant to be a 2-year-old. I told Howie, even though it wasn't easy for him to hear, that the horse wasn't sore, but I think the best thing for this horse is to put him away. Right away, he said, 'If that's what you think is best, let's do that for him.' It's amazing how much he trusted me.”
That trust and Attard's game plan would eventually pay off handsomely.
But there were times, plenty of them, when it wasn't easy for him to be separated from Red Hierarchy.
“I'm taking care of my horses, and in the back of my mind, I'm thinking about him every day. I'm thinking about him being on the farm, growing up, turned out, and growing into himself. He had a lot of experience up until that point. He had three or four works for me as a 2-year-old and then we gave him the summer, fall and winter off. He was with Gayle Woods in Ocala, Florida, and as soon as he got down there, she told Howie how special this horse was. It was nice to hear the horse was continuing his maturation and progression to being a 3-year-old. He went down December last year. When she started working him – he had about four or five works before he came up to me, just easy ones – she told me he was something special.”
All of that confidence had Attard brimming and eager to welcome his young prospect back into the fold.
He counted down the days until Red Hierarchy made his way back from the Sunshine State to the Woodbine backstretch.
“I couldn't wait to get him off the van and when I did see him, that big, soft 2-year-old had turned into a nice-looking 3-year-old. All that baby fat turned into muscle. I couldn't wait to get going with him, but I realized that if we had given him all that time, you still needed to do things the right way. So, we worked him and he did everything so easily. You start bringing him to the gate, to the paddock, and he's doing everything the right way. All told, we had 13 works for him before he ran.”
The long wait was finally over on that July 12 afternoon.
“I didn't want to have the horse ready to run, I wanted to have him ready to win first time out. His last work before his race, it wasn't the time that mattered – it was the way he did it. He broke well, he settled, he finished well, and galloped out strongly. I knew the horse was ready to run.”
Red Hierarchy would go on to win his first three starts before testing open company in his three subsequent races.
At season's end, he fashioned a mark of three wins and three thirds from six outings.
“It's tough for Ontario-sired horses to step up to those ranks, but he ran with them, and didn't miss by much in those races. It's not easy for any horse to run six consistent races in a row, and to have three wins and three thirds. It's not making excuses, but 2020 was his 2-year-old season if you think about it, and he still showed he had talent.”
Attard will have to wait about four months before he's reunited with Red Hierarchy.
Now back in Florida, the soon-to-be 4-year-old will gear up for his sophomore season at the races.
At the very least, Attard can have some warm thoughts over the cold winter months.
“We're thinking there could be a nice Ontario-sired stakes race for him in 2021. He's going to have a nice winter. He's with Gayle Woods again and she called Howie the minute he got there. She was thrilled to see him. It's really exciting that we got him to the races and he made it through safe and sound. You just hope he can take that next step and be a nice 4-year-old.
“He's a full-brother to another one in my barn, Red Equinox, and I have the full-sister, Peace Sign. They've all won first time out for me now. So, keep them coming. We actually have another full-sister coming next year… she'll be a 2-year-old. The year after that, the one Howie is really excited about – he sent that mare [Majestic Red] to Mucho Macho Man, so we've got a colt coming. He told me that could be my Queen's Plate horse.”
Attard would love to deliver Walton a Plate score.
“Howie takes a lot of pride in the horses he breeds and standing his own stallion Signature Red, who's proved to be a very solid sire, is something he really enjoys seeing. A lot of his mares, he's bred them going back two or three generations and to breed them to his own stallion that he raced and now stands at stud is a labor of love for him. It's great to see the success Signature Red has had for Howie. Maybe one of these days – because of his maturity and abilities – Red Hierarchy could be a nice, older Ontario-sired sprinter for Howie. That's the exciting thing.”
So, too, is the thought of recording a special milestone with “Red.”
It's something Attard has thought about often over his training life.
“I've been in a lot of nice stakes win pictures with Howie's horses when was I assistant to my dad [Hall of Fame conditioner Sid Attard], but it would be nice to get one of my own.”
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