Bucchero’s timely move to New York set to pay dividends

Harlan Malter, Managing Partner of Ironhorse Racing Stable, Ironhorse Stallions and Bucchero Stallion, brought his prized stud Bucchero to New York last year in anticipation of high-quality racing at a new Belmont Park.

In addition to a renovated main track and two turf courses, the new Belmont Park, set to re-open in 2026, will also offer a one-mile Tapeta track to be used as the exclusive winter racing surface on the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) circuit, which will create new opportunities for breeders like Malter.

For Malter, a former starting pitcher at Columbia University in New York, the opportunity to move his star stallion, a now 13-year-old son of Kantharos, from Florida to the Empire State and see the resulting progeny race at Saratoga Race Course and Belmont Park was an enticing opportunity.

“Ironhorse Stallions is named after Lou Gehrig,” said Malter of the New York Yankee Hall of Famer famous for playing 2,130 consecutive games. “I’m a New Yorker at heart. Both my parents grew up in New York and my love of horse racing was started by driving across the state from where I grew up in Boston to Saratoga. The idea of having horses featured at two of the top venues in the sport with the new Belmont coming was huge and the breeders' program is off the charts.

“I’m a financial planner by trade and the directive of my clients is to find the most efficient use of assets and the New York breeders’ program is fantastic,” Malter added. “All along, Florida made complete sense. Kantharos had been very good to the breeders in Florida and the breeders there were good to Bucchero, it was the right place to start but all along we eyed New York.”

Bucchero, an iron horse in his own right by modern-day standards, retired at age six after racing 31 times while banking $947,936 through an 11-6-3 record topped by back-to-back victories in the 5 1/2-furlong Grade 2 Woodford over the Keeneland turf in 2017-18.

He was as versatile as his progeny in a lengthy career, winning four times on turf and seven times on dirt, while landing second in his lone synthetic start when defeated less than one length by Choctaw Chuck in the 2017 Listed Karl Boyes Memorial at Presque Isle Downs.

Bucchero stood his first five seasons in Florida and moved to the Empire State in 2024 where he initially stood for a fee of $7,500 at McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds before moving this year to Ironhorse Stallions at Questroyal North in Stillwater, N.Y. and an increased fee of $10,000.

Bucchero ranked fourth amongst synthetic sires by earnings [$1,435,866] last year in North America and is currently third in the synthetic rankings [$656,073] in 2025.

“In New York, I consider myself kind of the in-house expert on how a synthetic track can affect a sire because we had tremendous success with Bucchero’s progeny in Florida,” Malter said. “We saw first-hand the day in, day out use of the surface and what it does to keeping them sound. In Florida, a huge amount of the trainers there use the synthetic surface for training and breezing. When the races come off the turf, the races don’t fall apart and from a syndicate standpoint you see a much more competitive product.

“The synthetic surface will be so vital,” Malter added. “I’ve said to people that may be on the fence: three or four years from now people will be absolutely 100 percent behind the synthetic surface and what it’s done for racing in New York. It takes time.”

However, Bucchero has more to offer than his synthetic surface potential as evidenced by Book’em Danno’s 1 1/4-length romp in the Grade 3, $400,000 True North on June 7 during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course.

Trained by Derek Ryan and piloted by Paco Lopez, the New Jersey-bred Horse of the Year for 2023-24 surged past Mullikin in the final 70 yards to post the impressive score, adding to a Spa ledger that includes a famous half-length win in last year’s Grade 1 Woody Stephens presented by Mohegan Sun also on Belmont Stakes Day. While Book'em Danno's Spa wins both earned triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures, he earned a career-best 104 for his close third in the Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial last summer at Saratoga.

“Derek Ryan has done an incredible job with Book’em Danno. He is the perfect son of Bucchero. He delivers every time the gates open,” Malter said. “Bucchero ran 31 races at 13 different tracks. I was there for almost all of them and [trainer] Tim Glyshaw and I would joke when he came off the trailer that you could put him in the gate in the parking lot and he would go six furlongs and run his race.

“As an athlete, knowing the difference between a physical athlete and one who has the whole package like a Tom Brady or Michael Jordan - the one that just seems to always elevate when physically there’s marginal differences - that’s what Bucchero was,” Malter added. “My one hope is he could pass that on to his horses. These are modestly bred horses and there’s tons of quality deep into these pedigrees but there’s something he’s bringing to the table that makes them want to run.”

As impressive as Book’em Danno has proven this year, Bucchero’s leading purse earner for 2025 is turf sprinter Queen Maxima, who is a perfect 4-for-4 with $336,360 in earnings in 2025 after taking the Grade 3 Unbridled Sidney last out on May 2 at Churchill Downs.

The Florida-bred 4-year-old chestnut filly rallied to a 3 1/2-length score in the Unbridled Sidney, doubling up on graded scores after wiring the Grade 3 Monrovia in April at Santa Anita Park.

That Bucchero can produce a quality turf sprinter is no surprise, but Malter appreciates the variety of successful progeny and sees room to grow for a horse that won the To Much Coffee for Indiana-breds in 2015-16 traveling a two-turn 1 1/16-miles on dirt.

“I think the mare population in New York and a lot of the mares we’ve internally bred to will get a little more [distance],” Malter said. “Do I think he’ll be a consistent mile and a quarter mile or mile and a half stallion, no, I don’t. But do I think we’ll see two-turn Buccheros? Absolutely. And I absolutely think they’ll thrive at one-turn miles.”

Malter said he is buoyed by the earning potential for New York-breds which is set to increase with a two-part plan to provide purse parity for Empire State-breds on the NYRA circuit.

In October 2023, NYRA announced that beginning January 1, 2026, all New York-bred overnight races for 2-year-olds [foals of 2024] on the NYRA circuit will offer purse amounts matching their open-company counterparts.

On December 30, NYRA further announced that effective January 1, 2027, all New York-bred overnight races will be run for purse money equal to their open-company counterparts, allowing the New York-bred foal crop to benefit from the financial reward of purse parity throughout their racing careers.

Bucchero was reported to have bred 112 mares in 2024, and that number has increased in 2025 according to Malter with the support of New York breeders and his own Ironhorse syndicate.

“We should be over 185 mares bred,” Malter said. “We’re supporting him heavily. Our operation in-house will have 20-plus mares minimum, and we’ve had a tremendous amount of outside support this year.

“To sit there on Belmont Day in back-to-back years and watch a [now] New York-sire produce a horse that can win a graded stakes at that level, the brass ring is sitting out there for anybody to try to reach,” Malter added.

"The addition of Bucchero to our stallion roster in New York has been a great asset thanks to the success of his progeny in helping to promote the advantages and awards of breeding and racing in the Empire State," said New York Thoroughbred Breeders, Inc. Executive Director Najja Thompson. "We can't wait to see his first New York-bred runners begin their careers with the incentives and opportunities for state-breds in New York and on the NYRA circuit. Especially among the already proven and deep breeding lines of stallions we currently have standing in the state."

Bucchero will see his first New York-sired runners hit the track in 2027.

“His babies are what his racehorses are: they’re athletes and a lot of them are chestnuts with socks. He definitely stamps them,” Malter said. “The first New York-sired Buccheros will be running in 2027. However, we brought up at least three or four babies conceived in Florida that are New York-bred yearlings. My guess is there will be a few more New York-bred 2-year-olds next year.”

And for Malter, who lives through baseball and horses, the construction of a new Belmont Park has beckoned with an irresistible chorus whispering, ‘if you build it, they will come.’

“I got into the sport through gambling. I used to go the OTB on 72nd and Broadway between classes and baseball practice,” said Malter, with a laugh. “The video of the new Belmont Park gave me goosebumps. What New York is doing is telling people to come here and make your horses. Who doesn’t want to win at Saratoga or the new Belmont?”