Senor Buscador , winner of the Feb. 24 Saudi Cup (G1) and third in the March 30 Dubai World Cup (G1), is back in serious training at San Luis Rey Training Center in Southern California. The 6-year-old son of Mineshaft recorded his second three-furlong breeze there in :36 2/5 June 12. That followed a three-eighths work in :39 May 30.
Todd Fincher, who trains the horse for his breeder, Joey Peacock Jr., said an early target for Senor Buscador could be Del Mar's San Diego Handicap (G2), a race he won last year, July 27.
"We would like to make the San Diego, but it might be cutting it a little bit too close. We will have to play it by ear," Fincher told BloodHorse June 13. "The Breeders' Cup Classic is the goal. If we get two or three races before then it would be great. Two minimum, but hopefully, if he's ready for the San Diego, maybe we can get three.
"We gave him a month off and we're just coming back into it. The first work was just a leg stretcher. He came back yesterday and had a nice three-eighths."
Fincher, who currently has horses at Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico and at San Luis Rey, which he uses as a base to race at Santa Anita Park, said Senor Buscador handled his international travel earlier this year like a pro.
"He did good with the traveling and he came out of it in good shape, too," Fincher reported. "He traveled and ran so much in row we just gave him a little break. Now we're back at it.
"We hoping he can come back to the same form. We've seen a lot of horses go over (to the Middle East) and not come back to their form. Hopefully, he will."
Prior to running in Saudi Arabia and Dubai, Senor Buscador finished second in the Jan. 27 Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) at Gulfstream Park. The Kentucky-bred has a career record of 7-2-3 from 19 starts and earnings topping $12.6 million, which places him ninth on the all-time leading earners list.
