Spend A Buck
Encyclopedia
Spend A Buck was an American
thoroughbred
race
horse
.
, War Admiral
, and Count Fleet
.
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.
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
.
reaction to penicillin
.
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...
race
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...
horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
.
Background
Spend A Buck was sired by Buckaroo out of the dam Belle de Jour. He bears an impressive pedigree, including Man o' WarMan O' War (horse)
Man o' War, is considered one of the greatest Thoroughbred racehorses of all time. During his career just after World War I, he won 20 of 21 races and $249,465 in purses....
, War Admiral
War Admiral
War Admiral was an American thoroughbred racehorse, the offspring of the great thoroughbred Man o' War and the mare Brushup. He inherited his father's fiery temperament and talent, but did not resemble him physically...
, and Count Fleet
Count Fleet
Count Fleet was born and died at Stoner Creek Stud farm in Paris, Kentucky, United States. He was a Thoroughbred racehorse and Triple Crown champion in 1943....
.
Racing career
On May 4, 1985, Spend A Buck won the Kentucky DerbyKentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...
by 5-3/4 lengths over Stephan's Odyssey under 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...
jockey
Jockey
A jockey is an athlete who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing.-Etymology:...
Angel Cordero Jr.
Angel Cordero Jr.
Angel Tomas Cordero, Jr. , is one of the leading thoroughbred horse racing jockeys of all time and the only Puerto Rican to date to be inducted into the United States' Racing Hall of Fame.-Early years:...
His 2:00 1/5 time is the fourth-fastest to date, as of 2007. He paid
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...
$10.20, $5.40, and $3.40. It was his trainer's, Cam Gambolati
Cam Gambolati
Cam M. Gambolati is an American Thoroughbred racehorse trainer best known for winning the 1985 Kentucky Derby with Spend A Buck....
, first attempt to win the Derby, a feat not matched again until 2003 when Barclay Tagg
Barclay Tagg
Barclay Tagg is an American thoroughbred horse trainer. A 1961 graduate of Pennsylvania State University with a degree in Animal Husbandry, he is best known for conditioning Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Jockey Club Gold Cup winner Funny Cide. Horses in Tagg's stable have included Showing Up and...
saddled Funny Cide
Funny Cide
Funny Cide is a Thoroughbred race horse who won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes in 2003. He is the first New York-bred horse to win the Kentucky Derby and the first gelding to win since Clyde Van Dusen in 1929.-Bloodlines:...
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
Cherry Hill, New Jersey
Cherry Hill is a township in Camden County, New Jersey, in the United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township had a population of 71,045, representing an increase of 1,080 from the 69,965 residents enumerated during the 2000 Census...
, NJ
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
: 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
Robert Brennan
Robert Emmet Brennan was an American businessman who built the infamous penny stock brokerage firm, First Jersey Securities. The firm specialized in promoting "Pump and dump" penny stocks to unsuspecting investors, many of them elderly, who lost their entire investments when the stocks inevitably...
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
Jersey Derby
The Jersey Derby is a $100,000 American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held annually in late July/early August at Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport, New Jersey. Since 1993 it has been raced on grass at a distance of 1 1/16 miles....
, Garden State's signature race.
Spend A Buck owner Dennis Diaz opted to skip the Preakness Stakes
Preakness Stakes
The Preakness Stakes is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held on the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs on dirt. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds ; fillies 121 lb...
and the Belmont Stakes
Belmont Stakes
The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes Thoroughbred horse race held every June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is a 1.5-mile horse race, open to three year old Thoroughbreds. Colts and geldings carry a weight of 126 pounds ; fillies carry 121 pounds...
, and thus trade Spend A Buck's chance to win the Triple Crown
Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing
The Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing consists of three races for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses. Winning all three of these Thoroughbred horse races is considered the greatest accomplishment of a Thoroughbred racehorse...
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.
Laffit Pincay, Jr.
Laffit Alejandro Pincay, Jr. is a flat racing's all-time winningest jockey. He competed primarily in the United States.-Career:...
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
Creme Fraiche (horse)
Creme Fraiche was an American thoroughbred gelding racehorse. He was sired by Rich Cream, co-holder of the world record of 1:19.40 for 7 furlongs on dirt in the 1980 Triple Bend Handicap, out of the Terrible Tiger mare, Likely Exchange.Bred by Pamela Firman and her nephew, G...
, capturing a $2.6 million prize, the largest single purse in American racing history. That record stood for 19 years, until Smarty Jones
Smarty Jones
Smarty Jones is a thoroughbred race horse, and winner of the 2004 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. He finished second in the Belmont Stakes that took place on June 5th, 2004....
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.
Honors and awards
Spend A Buck was voted the 1985 Eclipse Award for Horse of the YearEclipse 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....
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
Monmouth Park Racetrack
Monmouth Park Racetrack is an American race track for thoroughbred horse racing in Oceanport, New Jersey. It is owned by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority and is operated under a five-year lease as a partnership with Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City.Monmouth Park's marquee event...
and the Grade III Spend A Buck Handicap
Spend A Buck Handicap
The Spend A Buck Handicap is an American Grade III Thoroughbred horse race held annually since 1991 in mid October at Calder Race Course in Miami Gardens, Florida...
at Calder Race Course
Calder Race Course
Calder Casino & Race Course is a casino and horse racetrack in Miami Gardens, Florida in the United States.-History:In the mid-1960s, real estate developer Stephen A. Calder envisioned summertime racing in Florida; in 1965, on the advice of Mr. Calder, the Florida Legislature approved a bill...
.
Stud career
Spend A Buck had a very successful post-racing career standing stud, 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 anaphylacticAnaphylaxis
Anaphylaxis is defined as "a serious allergic reaction that is rapid in onset and may cause death". It typically results in a number of symptoms including throat swelling, an itchy rash, and low blood pressure...
reaction to penicillin
Penicillin
Penicillin is a group of antibiotics derived from Penicillium fungi. They include penicillin G, procaine penicillin, benzathine penicillin, and penicillin V....
.