Spend a Buck

Spend A Buck
Spend A Buck
Sire	Buckaroo
Grandsire	Buckpasser
Dam	Belle de Jour
Damsire	Speak John
Sex	Stallion
Foaled	1982
Country	United States
Color	Brown
Breeder	C. Rowe Harper, Irish Hill Farm
Owner	Hunter Farm (Dennis Diaz)
Trainer	Cam Gambolati
Record	15: 10–3–2
Earnings	$4,220,689
Major wins
	Arlington-Washington Futurity Stakes (1984); Cherry Hill Mile Stakes (1985); Garden State Stakes (1985); Jersey Derby (1985); Monmouth Handicap (1985) U.S. Triple Crown series:; Kentucky Derby (1985)
Awards
	U.S. Champion 3-Yr-Old Colt (1985); United States Horse of the Year (1985)
Honors
	Calder Race Course Hall of Fame (1995); Spend a Buck Stakes at Monmouth Park; Spend a Buck Handicap at Calder Race Course
	Last updated on February 8, 2007

Spend a Buck (May 15, 1982 in Daviess County, Kentucky – November 24, 2002, in Brazil) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1985 Kentucky Derby.

Background

Spend a Buck was sired by Buckaroo^[1] out of the dam Belle de Jour. Through his son Einstein (BRZ), he is now the primary source for the Buckpasser sire line in the United States.^[2] Spend a Buck is inbred 5x5 to Prince Rose and is line bred 5x8x8x6 to Man o' War, while his sire Buckaroo is inbred 4x5 to Blue Larkspur and La Troienne.^[3]

Racing career

On May 4, 1985, Spend a Buck won the Kentucky Derby by 5-3/4 lengths over Stephan's Odyssey under jockey Angel Cordero Jr. His 2:00 1/5 time is the fourth fastest as of 2023. He paid $10.20, $5.40, and $3.40. It was his trainer Cam Gambolati's first attempt to win the Derby, a feat not matched again until 2003 when Barclay Tagg saddled Funny Cide for his win.

Earlier in the season, Spend a Buck had won two races at the newly reopened Garden State Park Racetrack in Cherry Hill, New Jersey: the Cherry Hill Mile Stakes on April 6 and the Garden State Stakes on April 20. Before the season began, Garden State Park owner Robert Brennan had put up a $2-million bonus to the horse that won the two April preparatory races, the Kentucky Derby, and the May 27 Jersey Derby, Garden State's signature race.

Spend a Buck's owner, Dennis Diaz, opted to skip the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes and thus trade Spend a Buck's chance to win the Triple Crown for a shot at the bonus. Cordero, Spend a Buck's regular jockey, was committed to another race that day, so Hall of Fame jockey Laffit Pincay Jr. rode Spend a Buck at Garden State. Spend a Buck won the Jersey Derby by a neck over eventual Belmont winner Creme Fraiche, capturing a $2.6-million prize, the then largest single purse in American racing history. That record stood for 19 years, until Smarty Jones won the 2004 Kentucky Derby.

Because Spend a Buck skipped the last two legs of the Triple Crown, the Triple Crown races put up a bonus of their own to encourage participation in the series.

Spend a Buck set a track record of 146.80 for a mile and an eighth in winning the 1985 Monmouth Handicap (now known as the Philip H. Iselin Stakes), which stood for 37 years until broken in 2022.

Honors and awards

Spend a Buck was voted the 1985 Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year and Champion Three-Year-Old Colt.

Several races were named for Spend a Buck, including the Spend a Buck Stakes at Monmouth Park and the Grade III Spend a Buck Handicap at Calder Race Course.

Stud career

Spend a Buck had a successful post-racing career standing stud,^[4] siring 27 stakes winners with earnings of over $16 million. He died on November 24, 2002, at Haras Bage do Sul in Brazil following an anaphylactic reaction to penicillin.^[5]

Pedigree

Pedigree of Spend a Buck
Sire Buckaroo	Buckpasser	Tom Fool	Menow
		Tom Fool	Gaga
		Busanda	War Admiral
		Busanda	Businesslike
	Stepping High	No Robbery	Swaps
		No Robbery	Bimlette
		Bebop II	Prince Bio
		Bebop II	Cappellina
Dam Belle de Jour	Speak John	Prince John	Princequillo
		Prince John	Not Afraid
		Nuit de Folies	Tornado
		Nuit de Folies	Folle Nuit
	Battle Dress	Jaipur	Nasrullah
		Jaipur	Rare Perfume
		Armorial	Battlefield
		Armorial	Tellaris

References

^ "Spend a Buck". Equibase Co LLC. 2012-10-13. Retrieved 2021-07-31.
^ Peters, Anne (June 20, 2014). "Buckpasser and his influence on the breed". The Blood-Horse. Retrieved May 8, 2016.
^ Avalyn Hunter (1 January 2003). American Classic Pedigrees (1914-2002). Eclipse Press. pp. 472–. ISBN 978-1-58150-095-0. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
^ "Spend A Buck: King O' Brazil by Jose Maria Pinto Oliveira". www.pedigreepost.com. Archived from the original on 2001-12-09.
^ "- Thoroughbred Times".

External links

[1] "Spend a Buck". Equibase Co LLC. 2012-10-13. Retrieved 2021-07-31.

[2] Peters, Anne (June 20, 2014). "Buckpasser and his influence on the breed". The Blood-Horse. Retrieved May 8, 2016.

[Hunter2003-3] Avalyn Hunter (1 January 2003). American Classic Pedigrees (1914-2002). Eclipse Press. pp. 472–. ISBN 978-1-58150-095-0. Retrieved 3 July 2013.

[4] "Spend A Buck: King O' Brazil by Jose Maria Pinto Oliveira". www.pedigreepost.com. Archived from the original on 2001-12-09.

[5] "- Thoroughbred Times".

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DRF, TSD & TRA era (1950–1970)	1950: Hill Prince 1951: Counterpoint 1952: One Count (DRF) / Native Dancer (TRA & TSD) 1953: Tom Fool 1954: Native Dancer 1955: Nashua 1956: Swap 1957: Bold Ruler (DRF & TSD) / Dedicate (TRA) 1958: Round Table 1959: Sword Dancer 1960–64: Kelso 1965: Moccasin (TRA, TSD) / Roman Brother (DRF) 1966: Buckpasser 1967: Damascus 1968: Dr. Fager 1969: Arts and Letters 1970: Fort Marcy (DRF) / Personality (TRA)
Eclipse Awards winners (since 1971)	1971: Ack Ack 1972–73: Secretariat 1974–76: Forego 1977: Seattle Slew 1978–79: Affirmed 1980: Spectacular Bid 1981: John Henry 1982: Conquistador Cielo 1983: All Along 1984: John Henry 1985: Spend A Buck 1986: Lady's Secret 1987: Ferdinand 1988: Alysheba 1989: Sunday Silence 1990: Criminal Type 1991: Black Tie Affair 1992: A.P. Indy 1993: Kotashaan 1994: Holy Bull 1995–96: Cigar 1997: Favorite Trick 1998: Skip Away 1999: Charismatic 2000: Tiznow 2001: Point Given 2002: Azeri 2003: Mineshaft 2004: Ghostzapper 2005: Saint Liam 2006: Invasor 2007–08: Curlin 2009: Rachel Alexandra 2010: Zenyatta 2011: Havre de Grace 2012–13: Wise Dan 2014: California Chrome 2015: American Pharoah 2016: California Chrome 2017: Gun Runner 2018: Justify 2019: Bricks and Mortar 2020: Authentic 2021: Knicks Go 2022: Flightline 2023: Cody's Wish