Byerley up next for buoyant Buccleuch
Fresh from his facile victory in the Taj Rossi Series Final (Listed, 1600m), Buccleuch (Peltzer) will aim to further elevate his emerging sire’s profile when he returns to Flemington in a fortnight for the Byerley Handicap (1800m).
The homebred juvenile appears to cover the ground effortlessly and had a clear class edge on his rivals when sealing a hat-trick of wins and making a black-type breakthrough for Peltzer (So You Think), whose first crop are belatedly making their presence felt with the aptly-named I Show Speed having scored an eye-catching maiden victory at Canberra on Friday.
Buccleuch also embellished the remarkable recent record of his co-trainers Patrick and Michelle Payne, who celebrated a sixth success from their last 18 starters at Flemington when another homebred in Jimmy The Bear (Jimmy Creed) followed his stablemate into the winner’s enclosure later in the day.
Patrick Payne has now trained three of the last six Taj Rossi Final victors, with Quang Tri (Shalaa) – who subsequently joined Glenlogan Park’s broodmare band – and Cherry Tortoni (Night Of Thunder) landing the spoils in 2022 and 2020 respectively.
Like Cherry Tortoni, Buccleuch carries the famous red and white colours of Sandy Tait, who first rose to prominence as the owner-breeder of 13-time Group 1 hero Tie The Knot (Nassipour). At the ripe age of 84, Tait is seemingly as adept as ever at producing equine alchemy having picked out his mare Golden Fastnet (Fastnet Rock) as a suitable match for Peltzer.
Victory in the Byerley Handicap on 19 July would make it four in a row for the resulting foal and earn Buccleuch ballot exemption for this year’s Victoria Derby (Gr 1, 2500m), a race in which Cherry Tortoni started second favourite before finishing a luckless fourth.
Renowned as an arch pragmatist, Payne is keen to curb any such extravagant expectations with Buccleuch who is still growing into his considerable frame, and may therefore only have a light spring campaign with a view to returning a more furnished product next autumn.
But there is no denying that the manner of Saturday’s win, with Buccleuch ambling up to his rivals before dispatching them with a fair degree of arrogance under Billy Egan, would suggest he is quite capable of contesting much better races in the not-to-distant future.
“He’s got a lovely attitude, but he’s still a little bit on the immature side,” said Patrick Payne.
“We think he’ll be a lovely late three-year-old and you may not even see the best of him until he turns four. He’s had quite a busy two-year-old prep, so we wouldn’t want to overtax him in the spring and it might knock his confidence if he went up against the more mature three-year-olds in some of the better races.
“But he’s really enjoying himself at the minute, so at this stage we’re most likely heading to the Byerley with him in two weeks. It might be an easy pick for him given the form he’s in and how much enjoyment he’s getting from winning. He didn’t really get out of second gear on Saturday, so you wouldn’t think the race took too much out of him.
“The way he won, I don’t think the 1800 metres of the Byerley would be any issue for him. He’s not bred to get over ground, because Peltzer was at his best over shorter trips and he’s out of a Fastnet Rock mare [Golden Fastnet].
“So you wouldn’t have thought that mating would produce a middle-distance or potentially even a staying horse. But then if you went purely on his looks then you would definitely think he’s capable of getting out in distance, because he’s quite lengthy, has got a really long stride and is really clean-winded.”
Buccleuch’s win was warmly received by Sandy Tait’s son Olly, the proprietor of Twin Hills Stud where Peltzer (So You Think) – a winner of three stakes races and more than $1 million in prize-money during his career – currently stands alongside Daumier (Epaulette), Hallowed Crown (Street Sense) and Smart Missile (Fastnet Rock).
Tait is currently making his way back from his overseas trip as part of his managerial duties with Wathnan Racing, who have enjoyed some spectacular success during the British flat racing season, but he still managed to tune into Racing.com to witness Buccleuch’s win.
“For Peltzer to get his first stakes winner with a horse bred by Dad is obviously a huge thrill for the whole family,” Tait told ANZ News in transit.
“The comparisons with Cherry Tortoni are obvious, he was a high-class horse and we’re obviously hoping Buccleuch can reach those same heights if not exceed them. It’s still very early days but the signs so far have been very positive.
“His debut run was very good, then he got beaten by a good Nick Ryan horse [Highvol] at start two and his next three have all been excellent. He’s improving with every run, which is what you want to see with any horse and particularly with young ones. He stayed the mile very well, so if he heads to the Byerley I don’t think the step up in trip would be a problem and if we can have a similar result, then we can look forward to the future with a fair bit of confidence.”
Tait is now hopeful Buccleuch’s success will persuade more breeders to send their mares to the Twin Hills resident, and also pique the interest of the buying bench when Peltzer’s progeny go through the sales ring next year.
His yearlings sold up to $260,000 this year, which is a more than reasonable return for breeders on an $11,000 (inc GST) service fee, but if Buccluech can continue on his merry way then those sales figures will surely increase exponentially.
“Having a horse like Buccleuch come onto the scene has obviously made a lot of people stand up and pay closer attention to Peltzer,” said Tait.
“He’s only had ten runners so far and on the whole they’ve all run well, he’s had three winners so far and was very unlucky not to have a fourth. So those numbers are encouraging but having a headline horse like Buccleuch inevitably gets the stallion’s name up in lights, and hopefully it gives breeders the confidence to support him with some higher quality mares. He’s now got some momentum through this horse and hopefully a few more more can emerge in the spring and beyond.
“He covered fewer mares in his third and fourth crops than he did his first and second, but that’s often the nature of the game with stallions. He’s always produced lovely-looking progeny, and Buccluech was a very attractive colt from the very start. His sales results were better from his second crop than from his first crop, which was encouraging because it showed that the buyers who had purchased one of his yearlings the previous year obviously liked what they had and were keen to reinvest.
“It’s still early days and given Peltzer is by So You Think we always thought his progeny would get better as they got older, so it will take time for him to get a firm footing. Buccluech will have had six starts as a two-year-old if he runs in the Byerley, so that’s certainly not a light juvenile campaign but the good ones can just do it on raw ability. He’s a big horse with some maturing to do, but if he can keep progressing into his three-year-old season and get over a distance, then he’s clearly a very exciting prospect and should have a long and successful career ahead of him.”