A son of Spend a Buck out of the Secreto mare Social Secret, Hard Buck retired with nine wins and five seconds from 19 starts and earnings of $1,073,674. His second dam is a full sister to French champion Mississipian and a half-sister to North American and French champion Youth.Hard Buck will stand for $2,500 live foal as the property of a partnership headed by managing partner McPeek.
Hard Buck, a millionaire and grade I winner, will enter stud at John Sykes' Cloverleaf Farms II near Reddick, Fla.A group I winner in his native Brazil, Hard Buck won his first three starts, all Kentucky turf stakes, following his arrival in the U.S. in 2003. Trained by Kenneth McPeek, he started out with a triumph in the Tri-State Handicap, then took the Kentucky Cup Mile Stakes and River City Handicap (gr. IIIT).As a 5-year-old this year, Hard Buck captured the Gulfstream Park Breeders' Cup Handicap (gr. IT) over established runners Balto Star, Kicken Kris, and Request for Parole and was second in the Opening Verse Handicap on grass. He also ran second in two prominent overseas events, the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes (Eng-I) and The Palm Dubai Sheema Classic (UAE-I).