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Hall of Fame - A Bus

Original article written by Marzy Dotes posted 12 years 3 weeks ago

There are different factors that weigh into the decision of what to name a racehorse and no doubt a story behind each one.

Breeder Matthew McMahon came up with the name of one of his colts for a pragmatic reason. He wanted the name of his future stallion to appear at the top of the stud list, alphabetically speaking.

So that's where he made the decision to name his shiny bay colt with the star, A Bus. Not that he assumed that he had a star in the making at first glance.

"At that time I had never had any good horses so not sure why I thought I would get a superstar this time, but obviously I got very lucky."

It didn't take long for his horse to place himself at the top of quite a few lists, both as a racehorse and then later on as a stallion. Even today, while A Bus spends his days serving as a lesson horse making children smile instead of cry, he attracts crowds whenever it's his turn in the ring. Streams of fans congregate around while he's nibbling grass in his pasture or cantering beneath the sunlight at the End of the Eternity Farm in Japan. He’s not just a horse, he’s become a brand name synonymous with turf sprinting.

But even a famed horse like this stallion didn't get where he got by himself. Like all other horses, he had been born a product of his parents who met once in a breeding shed under the direction and design of McMahon who had his reasons for the parents he chose for A Bus.

"At the time I had never had many horses capable of winning anything, let alone some big races. But I had got lucky when I became the owner of Storm Cat. I actually forget how I got to own Storm Cat, but it was great as he is obviously still a huge influence on the Sim."

Indeed the fiery bay stallion who raced only once but soon filled his progeny listings with the likes of the mighty European Champion Acapulco, one of the most successful of all turf studs. He sired horses who loved to route and broodmares who loved to produce milers, before chasing foxes. When 80% of your progeny have become winners and 20% have won stakes, it doesn't get much better than that. But Storm Cat also sired the likes of Australian Horse of the Year Three of Crowns (who sired A Crown Awaits, Everest and Twilight), European Champion Older Horse Stop and Stare (who sired Jabaar) and on the female side, European Champion Older Mare Accapella (who produced the mighty stakes winner and broodmare Rockapella).

Most of Storm Cat's top progeny were turf routers and many sired or produced horses that mirrored themselves. But then along comes A Bus who threw a bit of a curve ball into that pattern.

He liked to do things his own way, to make his own mark in the competitive and often cutthroat world of horse racing. A sport that often tries to pin labels which define what a racehorse can and will do even before it sets foot onto the racetrack.

Still, A Bus also had a dam and her familial background was much different than with the stud she met that fateful day in the shed. Minute Star was a diminutive roan filly who had never won a single race in six starts, never hit the board either. Her accomplishments or lack of them matched that of her own dam, Minuette who failed to win once in eight starts. But Minute Star had a pretty good sire in Astarabad who won the Steward's Cup Turf and went on to sire the likes of Star Studded, another horse who liked to do things his own way and the nice long router and sire Streamer.

Sometimes these match ups of royalty and commoners work out very well but Minuette had her own hidden gem in her pedigree, her dam Hall of Famer, Wait a Minute best known for producing the likes of Chinese Bandit.

McMahon had planned it to work out that way when he discussed the use of Minute Star.

"His dam was a cheap purchase as she had not produced anything of note before, but she had some good breeding with Wait a Minute as a grand dam. This good breeding definitely showed through as lightning struck twice with Y Are U Here also having a very impressive career."

Indeed, Y Are U Here had won over $1 million in earnings and had captured the title of South African champion sprinter during his racing career.

So that offered high hopes that the mating of Minute Star with Storm Cat to McMahon that something very special might come out of it. But it didn't seem like the racing world was quite ready for the likes of the handsome brown colt with that star that would soon make his mark.

A Bus's career preceded the introduction of speed training so that left people guessing about his talent. Yet he grew quickly into a small but very robust runner with legs that carried him easily in his gallops, so much so that a youngster in pigtails by the name of Mary Weather hyperventilated during one of his early morning cruises around the racetrack and needed to be revived with smelling salts. Even as a youngster, A Bus just had that way about him that led people to weave dreams for him to achieve and then they sat back and watched.

When he lined up for the first time, he faced off against a field of 11 runners and finished second, only a neck behind Taken By Storm. He finished second in his next start too, the King of Kings Futurity behind the talented Vendetta. He romped in his next start, winning by 4 ½ lengths. Taken By Storm defeated him in the Necocheca Stakes but A Bus closed out his first racing season by facing off with the whirling Tornado all down the stretch before winning the Los Campeones Junior Sprint by a nose.

Although A Bus had established himself as a formidable turf sprinter, when he came back at three, McMahon changed a few things. He shipped him off to Australia and stretched his running out to a mile in an allowance which he won pretty handily, and in his next race, the $1 million AJC Australian Derby, he faced the 1 ½ mile distance where he lost to Australian Champion Two Year Old Map who would go on to produce European Champion Horse of the Year Knot. He dropped back down to a mile and captured the George Main Stakes and as a miler, he did well at the distance even defending his title in the George Main Stakes the following year.

That race prepped him for his last race, the International Mile at the Hipodromo Chile. He closed out his career by winning that race by two lengths in what McMahon called his greatest racing achievement. It was a bittersweet victory in that SIM racing shut down soon after and its fate at the time had seemed uncertain. A Bus had proven himself amply on the racetrack including by winning many championship titles including South American horse of the year but what about inside the breeding shed?

As it turned out, the fates had plenty in store for A Bus as breeding and racing resumed and the speculation began immediately about what kind of sire he would turn out to be. After all, he was a horse who had competed well from sprints to routes and so what would his offspring favor when it was their turn to run? McMahon said he didn't have any disappointments about A Bus's career on the racetrack but in retrospect that perhaps he should have focused more on the sprints instead of stretching him out.

"…his heart showed through and he still won a number of big races," he said.

He'd show his heart and stamina in the breeding shed as well as A Bus sired 373 foals and every single one of them made it to the racetrack. About 88.5% of them were winners who average around an amazing $142,910 in career earnings and at least a third of his runners won stakes as well. A statistic which meant that he had few peers when it came to being a landmark stud who would forever redefine the discipline of turf sprinting.

But the numbers only tell a small portion of the story when it comes to his stud career. The expectations of his success by McMahon had originally been quite modest.

"My hopes started low, and he had a low fee at first. With this fee he attracted all types of mares, and the majority was improved. This was a real sign of his ability, and his fee started to increase gradually until reaching a peak that definitely bankrolled my stable through some hard times."

A Bus sired about 20 offspring his first year in stud but born to a charming mare named Duet was his first superstar, Guitar who preceded him in the Hall of Fame. This bay bolt of lightning proved to be brilliant at two, retiring undefeated and with two championship titles from Australia. Though his early departure from racing caused a stir, Guitar strummed some impressive music at stud, siring the likes of South Pacific Champion Two Year Old Colt Trumpet, South Pacific Champion Sprinter Beat and African Champion Two Year Old Filly Gently Weeps (whose daughter, The Black Album won the same title). His most famous daughter Strum produced the very hot sire Adjust the Sound and the nice broodmare Smooth.

Guitar had a full brother named Chord, the Asian champion three year old colt who came along later and has proven to be a formidable sire himself. Whether or not they shared a sibling rivalry, only they know but they became one of the most well known dynamic duos of the sport.

A Bus also sired African Champion Sprinter Knightsbridge Road, sire of the promising new sire Hand of God who hopes to make his mark in the breeding shed.
Other future stallions sired by A Bus included South American Horse of the Year Automobile who's sired over 200 winners including European Champion Two Year Old Filly Love Buzz who's getting some of that as a broodmare. He also includes on that roster Donizetti who won championship sprint titles in three racing circuits during his career as well as stakes winner Aboriginal.

As impressive as his male offspring are, they aren't the ones who come to mind when someone mentions the name, A Bus. Most often these days when people do so, they are thinking about what he's best known for and that's his female babies.
Quite a few of these fillies grew up to be impressive racers like South African Horse of the Year Love who proved to be dominating force on the race track, winning 11 of her 13 starts. Her only losses were in the Steward's Cup Turf Sprint but it didn't matter much because she was one of the first of what would become the legendary band of A Bus mares. A half sister to Soothe, she produced the stakes winning Llamrei, herself a nice broodmare and one of the hottest two year old fillies, Accompany who's by Pursuit. What Love did even as she remains in hot demand today, was help A Bus set the standard for what constituted an excellent broodmare sire.

More famed A Bus mares have followed since and soon enough, they became hot commodities, so much so that it's rare to find an owner who will part with one, sometimes not even for a lot of cash and promises. Just for a chance to own one or more of them and enjoy the wealth that they bring, for many breeders it doesn’t get much better than that.

Not all of his daughters were created equal but many of them have produced successful offspring. Over 375 offspring of A Bus mares went on to win stakes races.

Happiness, an elegant bay daughter of Hug which made her a half sister to Jam and This Day Forward produced the amazing champion Pursuit and another mare, the deceased Keepitfancy produced two millionaires in African Horse of the Year Just and African and North American Champion Sprinter Keepmeinthedark.

The current stallion, Just highlighted of one of the most popular and successful crosses in turf sprinting that between A Bus’s mares and the venerable former stud, Right Hand Man. That crossing alone has produced 80 stakes winners so far including South Pacific champion, Mr. Right and African Champion Sprinter Uhura who’s got a hot daughter herself by Silent Partner in Zenolinguistics.

The A Bus mares crossed well with many other bloodlines besides Right Hand Man including Adjust the Lens and his son, Adjust the Sound as well as Champion Sprinters Ease and Irish Heights along with the popular Night Shade. But what’s also fascinating is that many successful sprinters have been produced that have A Bus on both sides of the family tree. Both Just and Adjust the Sound who have A Bus in their pedigree have done very well crossing with A Bus’s sons and his daughters. That’s led to the prevalence of A Bus in so many turf sprinting pedigrees that it’s often hard to find a runner that doesn’t include him in its familial lines at least once.

By doing that, he’s forever stamped his name on the breeding industry just as he had done on the racetrack and it’s unlikely he’ll ever be forgotten, not bad for a little horse whose owner hoped would become a superstar.

And by the time he was pensioned, A Bus wound up at the top of the sire's lists in more ways than just alphabetically, winning himself a position in the sport’s Hall of Fame.


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