Buckaroo (February 13, 1975 – July 30, 1996) was an American

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

racehorse Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...

, best known as the sire of Horse of the Year Spend a Buck. Buckaroo was the

Leading sire in North America The list below shows the leading sire of Thoroughbred racehorses in North America for each year since 1830. This is determined by the amount of prize money won by the sire's progeny during the year. It is restricted to stallions which are based in N ...

of 1985.

Background

Buckaroo was bred in Kentucky by Greentree Stud and raced for

Greentree Stable Greentree Stable, in Red Bank, New Jersey, was a major American thoroughbred horse racing stable and breeding farm established in 1914 by Payne Whitney of the Whitney family of New York City. Payne Whitney operated a horse farm and stable at Sar ...

as a homebred. He was sired by

Buckpasser Buckpasser (1963–1978) was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who was the 1966 Horse of the Year. His other achievements include 1965 Champion Two-Year-Old, 1966 Champion Three-Year-Old, 1966 Champion Handicap Horse, and 1967 Champi ...

, a

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racehorse whose immense influence on the breed came mainly as a broodmare sire. Buckaroo's dam, Stepping High, was a stakes-placed daughter of No Robbery.

Racing career

Buckaroo made three starts at age two, earning one win in a maiden special weight race at Belmont Park. He made ten starts at age three, recording four wins including the

Grade II In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

Saranac Stakes The Saranac Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. The Graded stakes race, Grade III stakes is open to three-year-old horses and is raced on grass, turf over a distance of 1 ...

and Grade III

Peter Pan Stakes The Peter Pan Stakes is a Grade III American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds over a distance of miles (nine furlongs) run annually during the second week of May at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. History The race is run in honor o ...

. He was also second in the Dwyer and

Whitney Handicap The Whitney Stakes (run as the Whitney Handicap through 2013 and still sometimes referred to as such) is an American Grade 1 stakes race for Thoroughbred racehorses three years of age and older run at a distance of miles. The current purse is $1 ...

s. At age four, he finished out of the money in five starts.

Stud record

In 1980, Buckaroo was retired to stud at Greentree Stud in Kentucky. For the 1985 breeding season, he was relocated to Happy Valley in Florida. He was subsequently moved to the Florida Stallion Station for the 1991 season, and finished his breeding career at Bridlewood Farm. Buckaroo sired 539 named foals, of which 350 (64.9%) were winners and 29 (5.4%) were stakes winners. Spend a Buck, winner of the Kentucky Derby winner, was his most successful offspring, and helped him become the

leading sire in North America The list below shows the leading sire of Thoroughbred racehorses in North America for each year since 1830. This is determined by the amount of prize money won by the sire's progeny during the year. It is restricted to stallions which are based in N ...

of 1985. His most successful sons at stud were Spend a Buck and Montbrook. In 2004, he was designated as a brilliant/intermediate chef-de-race. He died in July 1996 due to kidney failure.

Pedigree

* Buckaroo is shown as descending from family 11-g. However, the mitochondrial DNA of female descendants of his granddam Bebop is inconsistent with that of other members of this family. This indicates there was an error in the pedigree at some point before Bebop.

References

{{reflist 1975 racehorse births 1996 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in Kentucky Racehorses trained in the United States United States Champion Thoroughbred Sires Thoroughbred family 11-g Chefs-de-Race