Buck's Boy was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Thoroughbred

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...

 racehorse

Horse racing

Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...

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Background

He was bred by horseman Noel Hickey's Irish Acres Farm of Ocala, Florida

Ocala, Florida

Ocala is a city in Marion County, Florida. As of 2007, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau was 53,491. It is the county seat of Marion County, and the principal city of the Ocala, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had an estimated 2007 population of 324,857.-History:Ocala...

 who sold him to George Bunn

George Bunn

George Lincoln Bunn was an American lawyer, judge, and academic from Minnesota. He served as a justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court and dean of William Mitchell College of Law.Bunn was born in Sparta, Wisconsin...

 of Quarter B Farm in Pleasant Plains, Illinois

Pleasant Plains, Illinois

Pleasant Plains is a village in Sangamon County, Illinois, United States. The population was 777 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Springfield, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Pleasant Plains is located at ....

. Out of Noel Hickey's mare

Mare (horse)

A mare is an adult female horse or other equine.In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse age three and younger. However, in Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than four years old; in harness racing a mare is a...

 Molly's Colleen, by multiple stakes winner, Verbatim, his grandsire was U.S. Racing Hall of Fame

National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers...

 inductee and U.S. Horse of the Year

Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year

The American Award for Horse of the Year is the highest honor given in American thoroughbred horse racing. It has been awarded since 1887 to the horse, irrespective of age, whose performance during the racing year is deemed the most outstanding....

, Buckpasser

Buckpasser

Buckpasser was an American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who won he won nine of his eleven race starts for international record winnings for a two-year-old of $586,090. Buckpasser was leading broodmare sire in 1983, 1984 and 1989....

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Racing Career

Conditioned by Noel Hickey, Buck's Boy was sent to the track at age three, making six starts of which he won three. In 1997 he had nine starts, winning five, the most important of which was the Hawthorne Gold Cup Handicap

Hawthorne Gold Cup Handicap

The Hawthorne Gold Cup Handicap is a Grade II race for thoroughbred horses run at Hawthorne Race Course in Stickney, Illinois each year. The Hawthorne Gold Cup trophy has always been made of solid gold....

. In the 1997 Breeders' Cup Turf

Breeders' Cup Turf

The Breeders' Cup Turf is a Weight for Age Thoroughbred horse race on turf for three-year-olds and up. It is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States or Canada as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships. The race's current title sponsor is Emirates Airlines.The forerunner...

, he finished third behind winner, Chief Bearhart

Chief Bearhart

Chief Bearhart is a retired Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse and active sire. A turf specialist, he won six Sovereign Awards and was voted American Champion Male Turf Horse for 1997.-Background:...

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At age five, Buck's Boy was the United States' Champion Male Turf Horse

Eclipse Award for Outstanding Male Turf Horse

The American Champion Male Turf Horse award is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor. In 1971 it became part of the Eclipse Awards program and is awarded annually to a Colt or Gelding, regardless of age, for their performance on grass race courses....

, winning several important races including the Turf Classic Invitational Stakes and capping off his season by winning the 1998 Breeders' Cup Turf in which he defeated a field that included the parimutuel betting

Parimutuel betting

Parimutuel betting is a betting system in which all bets of a particular type are placed together in a pool; taxes and the "house-take" or "vig" is removed, and payoff odds are calculated by sharing the pool among all winning bets...

 favorite, Royal Anthem

Royal Anthem (horse)

Royal Anthem is a retired Thoroughbred racehorse and active sire bred in the United States.-Background:A son of Theatrical, Royal Anthem's grandsire was Nureyev and his damsire was U.S...

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A gelding

Gelding

A gelding is a castrated horse or other equine such as a donkey or a mule. Castration, and the elimination of hormonally driven behavior associated with a stallion, allows a male horse to be calmer and better-behaved, making the animal quieter, gentler and potentially more suitable as an everyday...

, Buck's Boy raced in 1999 and 2000, winning five of his thirteen starts including his second 1½ mile Pan American Handicap

Pan American Handicap

The Pan American Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at the end of March at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida...

 at Gulfstream Park

Gulfstream Park

Gulfstream Park Racing & Casino is a racetrack and county-approved racino in Hallandale Beach, Florida, in the United States. During its annual meet, which spans December through April, it is one of the most important venues for horse racing in America....

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Retirement

At the end of 2000, he was retired to his owner's Quarter B Farm in Pleasant Plains, Illinois.