Senor Buscadero, winner of the world’s richest horse race, has ties to New Mexico

For Todd Fincher, horse racing is a family affair.

That goes for equine families as well as the human sort.

Said the longtime New Mexico trainer of his prize 6-year old Senor Buscadero, winner of Saturday’s $20 million Saudi Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, “I trained his mother.”

What a family tree it is.

In a phone interview, Fincher said Rose’s Desert, Senor Buscadero’s mom, won 10 of the 15 races in which she was entered with five second places — all in New Mexico.

And Senor Buscador, winner of the world’s richest horse race, is not the only Rose’s Desert offspring to have sent bettors happily to the pay window.

“I’ve trained every one of her babies,” Fincher said by phone a few days removed from his and Senor Buscadero’s triumph in Riyadh. “We’ve had five on the track now, and every one of them is a winner. Four of them are major stakes winners and one of them has only run once, and she won that race.”

More family ties: Senor (no tilde over the n) Buscadero was sired by Mineshaft, who was sired by AP Indy, who was sired by 1977 Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew.

Fincher’s family tree is packed with winners, as well. His grandfather, Albert, was a trainer. Fincher’s father, Leroy, was a jockey turned trainer. Fincher’s mother, Leslie, was an award-winning trainer in her own right.

“I was born into racing for sure,” Fincher said. “It’s in my blood.”

Fincher experienced it all as a kid, from mucking out stalls to grooming to galloping horses as an exercise rider. The obvious next step was becoming a jockey — which he did, with great success before his 6-foot frame no longer allowed him to make weight.

The even more obvious next step: training.

Fincher has saddled hundreds of winners at all the New Mexico tracks, as well as Oaklawn in Arkansas, Churchill Downs and Keeneland in Kentucky, Santa Anita in California, Gulfstream in Florida and more.

Based in El Paso, Fincher, a 1989 Rio Grande High School graduate, is having “an exceptional meet” at Sunland Park this winter.

What Senor Buscadero achieved in Riyadh on Saturday was beyond exceptional.

Lurking well back in the field for most of the 1 1/8 miles, which he typically does — “it’s like a game to him,” Fincher said — Senor Buscadero, almost in tandem with Japan-bred Ushba Tesoro, made his move at precisely the right time.

Jockey Junior Alvarado, credited in a Daily Racing Form story for “a perfect ride,” got Senor Buscadero to the finish in front of Ushba Tesoro by a head.

The victory was worth $10 million for Fincher and principal owner, breeder Joe Peacock Jr. and others involved.

A 16-to-1 shot, Senor Buscador paid $28.80 to win.

Among his many victories as a trainer, Fincher said, the Saudi Cup tops them all.

“This has got to be the biggest,” he said. “Not because of the purse money, which is astounding … but these were the best horses from around the world, not just the United States.”

For the casual horse-racing fan, or for those for whom the racing year begins and ends with the Triple Crown races, Senor Buscadero might appear to be a late bloomer.

Not so.

“As a 2-year-old, he was a monster,” Fincher said. “He was ranked as high as No. 2 on the (2021) Kentucky Derby list. But he got an injury that knocked him out.”

Some nine months later, Senor Buscadero suffered another injury that kept him off the track for the rest of 2021.

Since his return as a 4-year-old, the Kentucky-bred bay horse has run 15 times, registering five wins, two seconds and two thirds.

Senor Buscador, Fincher said, isn’t just fast. He’s cool.

“Oh, he’s got a great personality,” he said. “Very happy horse, very ornery, playful.”

In his first start of 2024, the Jan. 27 Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream, Senor Buscadero ran second to 2023 Preakness winner National Treasure (who ran fourth in Riyadh).

From Florida, Senor Buscadero was flown directly to Riyadh some 12 days in advance of the race. Flown exactly how? Fortunately, Fincher said, that was all taken care of by the Saudis.

“They pay for everything,” he said. “They supply the plane and make all the arrangements.”

Fincher sent Oscar Rojero, a trusted, longtime employee, ahead to Riyadh to care for the horse. Fincher left for Riyadh on Wednesday the 21st and arrived late Thursday evening.

Senor Buscador remained in the Middle East after his victory, with the $12 million (the world’s second-richest) March 30 Dubai World Cup up next. But Fincher did not linger, flying home from Riyadh the day after the race.

The Sunland meet, after all, was well under way.