Over the last three years, Puca has become a household name within the Thoroughbred industry, a status that may be rare for a broodmare but is certainly warranted in her case.
When Baeza entered the Churchill Downs starting gate May 3, he accomplished history for the mare as the first to produce runners in three consecutive editions of the Kentucky Derby (G1). Her first, Mage , won the Kentucky Derby in 2023, and the second, Dornoch , bounced back from a 10th-place finish to triumph in the 2024 Belmont Stakes (G1).
That placed Puca on an elite list of nine mares to produce two American classic winners. Should Baeza replicate Dornoch's path after finishing third in this year's Derby, it will place Puca on a list of just herself; the dam of three American classic winners, all in consecutive years. Puca would also become the second mare to produce consecutive Belmont winners, matching Better Than Honour, who produced 2006 winner Jazil and 2007 winner Rags to Riches.
Baeza's victory would cement Puca's status as one of the greatest American broodmares of all time, a legacy meant to be preserved. That's why her current owner, John Stewart of Resolute Farm, has teamed up with the creators of the Netflix series "Race For The Crown" to produce a documentary diving into her genetics and immortalizing her achievements.
"It's going to be really fascinating," Stewart said of the documentary. "I'm funding all that to solidify her legacy. Hopefully it helps us understand a little bit more about some of these super mares that come along every 10 years or so."
That legacy in the breeding shed, which earned Puca honors as the 2024 Kentucky Thoroughbred Association Broodmare of the Year, began with Grandview Equine, the breeder of Mage, Dornoch, Baeza, and Puca's first foal, Gunning.
READ: Dornoch Helps Puca, Grandview Equine Make History
A daughter of 2008 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes (G1) winner Big Brown out of the stakes-placed Silver Ghost mare Boat's Ghost, Puca was a stakes winner on turf, and grade 2-placed on dirt, who participated at the top level in the 2015 Kentucky Oaks (G1) and 2014 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) for Donegal Racing.
At the conclusion of her racing career, she was sold to bloodstock agent Thomas Clark for $275,000 at the 2017 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale. A year later, she was entered as part of the Denali Stud consignment in Fasig-Tipton's The November Sale while in foal to Gun Runner .
Robert Clay of Grandview Equine had recently acquired three shares in new stallion Good Magic , champion 2-year-old male of 2017, and wanted to find a mare that supported him. In addition, he was interested in finding a mare in foal to Horse of the Year Gun Runner , who had covered his first book that year. Puca, a half sister to grade 1 winner Finnegans Wake, checked both boxes. He bought her for $475,000.
"She was talented, she was a lovely mare," Clay said on the May 26 episode of the BloodHorse Monday podcast. "We put her on our list and we got lucky and bought her. Of course, we had no idea this was going to happen."
After giving birth to her Gun Runner filly, Gunning, Clay bred Puca to Good Magic each of the next two years, producing Mage and Dornoch. He then bred her to another exciting young stallion prospect for which he had acquired a share: McKinzie . The result was Baeza.
"I think you can't breed a mare to the same stallion for five or six years in a row, you've got to diversify a little bit," Clay said. "We had an investment in McKinzie, so we mixed it up."
Clay bred back to Good Magic during the 2023 breeding season when he experienced one of the highlights of his breeding career: Mage winning the Kentucky Derby. In October, Dornoch broke his maiden and appeared to be on pace for a solid career. That was when Clay decided to take advantage of the market and enter Puca in the 2023 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale.
"We felt the time was right," Clay said. "We were hopeful to get a partner."
Clay put a high price on Puca, more than willing to take her back if no one was willing to pay it. If someone did pay that price, he was satisfied with having Gunning on the farm to carry on the line. However, it looked like Puca would return home when she RNA'd in the ring for $2.8 million.
Stewart, a newcomer to the breeding game at the time, had gained interest in the mare through conversations he had with members of her team. When she didn't sell in the ring, he decided to inquire about her availability.
"I was trying to get my broodmare band up and going with quality mares that produced winners," Stewart said. "We went and visited (consignor) Case Clay in the dark after everything was done. We got a deal for $2.9 million."
Stewart felt like he hit the jackpot a month later when Dornoch won the Remsen Stakes (G2) at Aqueduct Racetrack, a feeling that increased exponentially when Dornoch won the Belmont.
"I've been kicking myself ever since," Clay joked about selling her before Dornoch's success. "Our experience over the years is that a mare throws a couple of stakes winners and then she doesn't throw many more. These blue-hen mares, like she has become, they're very, very rare."
Video
Although Puca is no longer under the Grandview Equine banner, Baeza is. Clay stayed in on the colt and co-owns with C R K Stable.
Meanwhile, the continuation of Puca's success is in the hands of Stewart. She has a yearling colt and a newly born filly, both by Good Magic and full siblings to Mage and Dornoch, on Resolute Farm. Stewart recently sold a piece of the yearling colt, nicknamed "Preaky" to honor the goal of Puca producing a winner of all three Triple Crown races, to MyRacehorse on a $4.5 million evaluation.
READ: Stewart, MyRacehorse Partner on Puca Yearling
Her reputation as one of the generation's best broodmares, if not the best, adds some pressure to Stewart when it comes to planning the matings.
"I do feel like it's a huge responsibility," he said. "I take the bloodline and her genetics very seriously. She's not a stallion, she doesn't breed 200 a year. You get one shot a year with her."
That shot for the 2025 breeding season is still undetermined. Stewart has considered shipping her overseas to breed to the great Frankel . However, the timing has him considering staying home and picking a top stallion in the United States.
"She's already accomplished so much over here, wouldn't it be awesome to do it in other hemispheres and other areas like some of the stallions get the opportunity to?" Stewart said of his thoughts behind breeding to Frankel. "We've got a narrow window and we may potentially be breeding her one more time in the U.S. to one of the top stallions here."
Puca was part of the initial wave of headline-grabbing, high-dollar purchases by Stewart when he entered the industry in the fall of 2023. Now that his broodmare band is strong in size and quality, he feels Puca could play an important role in the long-term success of the operation.
"When you look at the caliber of mares that we have on our farm, it's mind-blowing," Stewart said. "There are horses that become a foundation for a farm. I think with her producing the filly for us, if she does nothing else, she's already given us what we really need. Giving us those genetics with a full sister to Mage, Dornoch, and Preaky, is really special.
"She's 13 and she had a late foal this year. She's probably got four or five opportunities left. At the same time, it's almost like she cannot breed another horse, and she's done enough to prove herself."
