Senor Buscador, More Than Looks to Grow Sire Legacies

Lane's End continues to build on its already influential stallion legacy with the addition of Senor Buscador to its 2025 roster. The grade 1 winner of nearly $13 million is a son of the farm's homegrown stallion Mineshaft, who is a son of the farm's multiple leading sire A.P. Indy. "It is a real source of pride for the farm. When he got off the van, he took our breath away," said Lane's End farm manager Peter Sheehan during a Feb. 7 stallion show for Thoroughbred media at the farm near Versailles, Ky. "He is a beautiful, tall, scopey horse and very elegant with a lot of bone and substance. He has great balance," Sheehan continued. "His race record speaks for itself and he has the looks to go with it. With earnings of nearly $13 million, he is the highest earner we've ever stood at Lane's End." Senor Buscador is a homebred for the Peacock family of San Antonio, Texas. The 7-year-old stallion is the last horse bred by the late Joe Peacock Sr. with his son Joe Peacock Jr., who campaigned Senor Buscador with trainer Todd Fincher from 2 to 6. Peacock Sr. chose the mating for the family's multiple stakes winner and multiple stakes producer, Rose's Desert (Desert God). The mare has produced three other stakes winners, including 2018 Sunland Derby (G3) winner Runaway Ghost (Ghostzapper). "My father liked the stamina that you got coming from Mineshaft," Peacock Jr. told America's Best Racing. "He liked to see horses that made money all the way through the pedigrees. He looked for horses that were sound and ran quite a few races and made money. Mineshaft clearly fit that bill." Mineshaft was honored as Horse of the Year and champion older horse for 2003 when he won seven times and was second twice out of nine starts. He won six graded stakes that included consecutive wins in the Suburban Handicap (G1), Woodward Stakes (G1), and Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1). He was retired with more than $2.28 million in earnings. Senor Buscador won his racing debut in November of his 2-year-old season at Remington Park by 2 1/2 lengths and immediately jumped into stakes competition. He captured the 2020 Remington Springboard Mile Stakes by 5 3/4 lengths in his second start. He would go on to compile a 7-2-3 record from 23 starts at 13 different racetracks. His biggest wins came in the 2024 $20 million Saudi Cup (G1), 2023 San Diego Handicap (G2), and 2022 Ack Ack Stakes (G3). He also placed in five other graded stakes that included a second in the 2024 Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) by a neck behind National Treasure and a third in the 2024 Dubai World Cup (G1). Heading into this year, the hope had been for Senor Buscador to contest the Pegasus World Cup and maybe the Saudi Cup again but he was retired Jan. 19 following a work at Gulfstream Park. The Peacock family kept a 25% ownership stake in Senor Buscador and the remaining interest in the stallion will be syndicated. "We acquired quite a few mares we intend to breed to him. We bought four in January and bought eight back in November. I'm hoping to get to around 15 by the start of the breeding season," Peacock Jr. told BloodHorse. Senor Buscador enters stud at a $7,500 fee. "Soundness and adaptability are very important traits in a stallion," said Sheehan. "To take that precociousness he showed and then go on and have the sound racing career he had to 6, and amass the earnings he did, he is a fantastic stallion prospect." More Than Looks Lane's End has another opportunity to build on a different legacy with its other new sire for 2025, grade 1 winner More Than Looks. The 5-year-old stallion is the second son of prominent international sire More Than Ready to stand at the farm and latest young stallion hoping to extend the influence of the Hail to Reason sire line through Halo. For 2021-24, Lane's End stood the More Than Ready son and grade 1 winner Daredevil on behalf of the Jockey Club of Turkey. Daredevil in his first crop sired 2020 Preakness Stakes (G1) winner Swiss Skydiver and Kentucky Oaks (G1) winner Shedaresthedevil. More Than Looks is a multiple stakes winner on turf who capped off last year with a blazing victory in the Breeders' Cup Mile (G1T) but his pedigree suggests versatility is available with the presence of multiple grade 1 dirt winner Critical Eye. More Than Looks is out of the Harlan's Holiday stakes winner Ladies' Privilege, who is out of the Empire Maker winner and multiple stakes producer Vanquished. Critical Eye is a Dynaformer half sister to Vanquished. "He is a fantastic-looking stallion, who looks like his sire," said Sheehan. "He has great balance and a powerful shoulder and hip. He was a very talented racehorse, who showed a great turn of foot in the Breeders' Cup Mile. He just blew away a field of eight grade and group 1 winners. He is a fantastic athlete by one of the leading sires of Breeders' Cup winners and it is a bonus that he has a bit of dirt in his pedigree. The future is very exciting for him." More Than Looks enters stud at $15,000.