Señor Buscador connections say the Classic is the right fit
It would be easy for handicappers to dismiss Señor Buscador in the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic based on his lack of performance in last year’s Dirt Mile. It might also be a mistake.
Yes, the New Mexico flag-bearer struggled home eighth of nine, dusted by 13 1/2 lengths, as Cody’s Wish notched a popular victory. But the also-ran was guilty with an explanation.
According to trainer Todd Fincher, horses were asked to remain in the Keeneland paddock for an unusually long time. That did not sit well with his usually calm veteran.
“He completely melted down,” Fincher said. “When they brought him to the gate, he was completely washed out and he bled that day. You’ve just got to put a line through that. When I saw him go to the gate, my heart dropped because he was going to win that day. When I saw him go to the gate lathered up, I just about died.”
Fincher, 52, said the now 5-year-old has not bled since. He has given him ample time to acclimate to Santa Anita and provided him with extensive paddock schooling in an effort to avoid another meltdown.
Still, Señor Buscador and jockey Geovanni Franco are listed at 30-1 in the morning line.
“The odds are just people’s opinions, and people are not in our camp. They don’t know what I know,” the trainer said. “I think he’s going to run a really good race.”
So does exercise rider Dennis Means. “He’s doing good, better than he ever has,” said Means. “I like him a lot. … He’s no 30-1 shot.”
Undoubtedly, some skepticism has to do with Señor Buscador’s New Mexico roots. The state is not known for producing Breeders’ Cup champions. Merely reaching the championship event is an accomplishment.
“It’s pretty cool, coming from where I come from,” Fincher said. “You don’t get the clientele that you would get when you live in Kentucky, California or New York. You just don’t get those types of horses.”
Fincher believes he has the training ability to compete on the West Coast. That was reinforced during a conversation with Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert this summer.
“I got a great compliment from Bob Baffert at Del Mar. He made a lot of sense and I understood what he said,” Fincher noted. “He said I’m good enough to be out here and be on the big stage but he said, ‘You’d have to drop everything and put 100 percent into it.’ ”
That is a problem. Fincher is a divorced father of three sons, Tanner, 22, and twins Cooper and Levi, 11. “I don’t get to see them much as it is,” Fincher said. “If I moved out here, I’d never get to see them.”
He went on, “If you’re not happy, this is going to turn into a job and you’ll be miserable. You’ve got to try to balance things. I want to be happy, and I want to be around my kids when I can.”
He will have his sons with him at Santa Anita. Emotions will run high for reasons beyond that. Señor Buscador is the last horse whom owner Joey Peacock Jr. bred with his father. Joe Peacock died in September 2020. He was 88.
The son is cautiously optimistic about their homebred’s prospects. “We feel like this year’s Classic is pretty wide open,” he said. “No Flightline is in there, no prohibitive favorite that everybody thinks is going to run away with the race. So we feel pretty good about being in the race. If we didn’t think we had a chance to really do well, we wouldn’t be there.”
The winner of the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap on July 29 at Del Mar got the outside position his connections wanted when he drew post nine for the Classic. Although he also was pre-entered in the Mile as a back-up plan, they are convinced that he is ideal for the Classic’s mile and a quarter. They are counting on a robust pace to fit his closing style.
“He’s going to be running at the end,” Peacock said. “Now where that’s going to put him, I can’t tell you.”
