2025 fee: €12,500 - brilliant winner of the G1 Phoenix Stakes

Bucanero Fuerte was an outstanding 2yo for AMO Racing and retires with a career high rating of 120; no other 2yo G1-winning son of Wootton Bassett boasts a higher figure.

 

Precocious as well as top-class for Adrian Murray, Bucanero Fuerte made a winning debut on the first day of the Irish Flat season in March 2023 when justifying favouritism to land a competitive 5f maiden by nearly three lengths. He went on to run a creditable third, beaten only a length, on his next start in the G2 Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot before making the Group race breakthrough in the G2 Railway Stakes at the Curragh, in which he showed great battling qualities to deny Unquestionable, subsequent winner of the G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf.

 

It was his performance in the G1 Phoenix Stakes, when powering clear to win by four lengths, that marked Bucanero Fuerte as a 2yo out of the top drawer: ‘bossed the race from start to finish and it was pretty much deal done by the 2f pole’, commented the Racing Post. That looks particularly strong form now given the second that day, Porta Fortuna, has since won four G1 races. 

 

Bucanero Fuerte looked set for a big season this year at three when returning to win the G3 Lacken Stakes at Naas, in which he broke the track record, but he was compromised by sickness ahead of Royal Ascot, which affected his season thereafter.

 

“Bucanero Fuerte is a hugely important horse for AMO Racing,” said Kia Joorabchian of AMO Racing. “His Group 1 win in 2023 where he dominated last year’s Phoenix Stakes was a truly outstanding moment for us all. We are proud to retire him alongside King Of Steel at one of Europe’s premier nurseries.  

 

“As a top class two-year-old who showed he had trained on superbly when breaking the track record at Naas on his comeback in May, we feel he has the requisite blend of qualities to excel in his new career. Significantly, he is the first Group 1-winning juvenile by his sire to retire to stud in Ireland and we are committed to supporting him fully on all fronts over the coming years.”

 

Roger O’Callaghan of Tally-Ho Stud said: “Bucanero Fuerte possessed huge class, pace and durability. Few 2yos are able to win on the first day of the season and then go on to Group 1 success; Bucanero Fuerte was an easy winner on both occasions, especially when scoring so emphatically over a top-class field in the Phoenix Stakes. We are delighted to be standing such a talented 2yo and look forward to working with AMO Racing in supporting him strongly at stud.”