| Spend A Buck | |
|---|---|
| Sire | Buckaroo |
| Grandsire | Buckpasser |
| Dam | Belle de Jour |
| Damsire | Speak John |
| Sex | Stallion |
| Foaled | 1982 |
| Country | United States |
| Colour | Brown |
| Breeder | Irish Hill Farm |
| Owner | Hunter Farm |
| Trainer | Cam Gambolati |
| Record | 15: 10–3–2 |
| Earnings | $4,220,689 |
| Major wins | |
| Arlington-Washington Futurity Stakes (1984) Kentucky Derby (1985) Jersey Derby (1985) Monmouth Handicap (1985) |
|
| Awards | |
| U.S. Champion 3-Yr-Old Colt (1985) United States Horse of the Year (1985) |
|
| Honours | |
| Calder Race Course Hall of Fame (1995) Spend A Buck Stakes at Monmouth Park Spend A Buck Handicap at Calder Race Course |
|
| Horse (Equus ferus caballus) | |
| Last updated on February 8, 2007 | |
Spend A Buck (1982 in western Kentucky – November 24, 2002 in Brazil) was an American thoroughbred race horse.
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Spend A Buck was sired by Buckaroo[1] out of the dam Belle de Jour. He bears an impressive pedigree, including Man o' War, War Admiral, and Count Fleet.
On May 4, 1985, Spend A Buck won the Kentucky Derby by 5-3/4 lengths over Stephan's Odyssey under Hall of Fame jockey Angel Cordero Jr. His 2:00 1/5 time is the fourth-fastest to date, as of 2007. He paid $10.20, $5.40, and $3.40. It was his trainer's, Cam Gambolati, 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, NJ: the Cherry Hill Mile on April 6, and the Garden State Stakes on April 20. Before the season had begun, Garden State Park owner Robert Brennan had put up a $2 million bonus to the horse that could win the two April prep races, the Kentucky Derby, and the May 27 Jersey Derby, Garden State's signature race.
Spend A Buck 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. was to ride 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 largest single purse in American racing history. That record stood for 19 years, until Smarty Jones won the 2004 Kentucky Derby and a bonus inspired by Brennan's.
Due to Spend A Buck skipping the last two legs of the Triple Crown, the Triple Crown races immediately put up a bonus of their own, to prevent that from ever happening again.
Spend A Buck was voted the 1985 Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year and Champion 3-Year-Old Colt after that impressive season.
There are several races 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.
Spend A Buck had a very successful post-racing career standing stud,[2] 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.[3]
| Sire Buckaroo |
Buckpasser | Tom Fool | Menow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gaga | |||
| Busanda | War Admiral | ||
| Businesslike | |||
| Stepping High | No Robbery | Swaps | |
| Bimlette | |||
| Bebop II | Prince Bio | ||
| Cappellina | |||
| Dam Belle de Jour |
Speak John | Prince John | Princequillo |
| Not Afraid | |||
| Nuit de Folies | Tornado | ||
| Folle Nuit | |||
| Battle Dress | Jaipur | Nasrullah | |
| Rare Perfume | |||
| Armorial | Battlefield | ||
| Tellaris |