Pass The Buck’s Flat career ended on a high, but the next chapter is only just beginning.
On his seventh and final start for Joseph O’Brien, the three-year-old won by six lengths over 1m2f at Fairyhouse, staying on strongly up the stiff finish.
That performance came just before a change of direction. Bought privately for OLBG Racing and recommended as a potential juvenile hurdler, Pass The Buck has now joined Harry Derham to begin a new career over obstacles.
Standing over 16.1hh, with seven runs and some early schooling behind him, he brings an interesting profile to the jumping game. OLBG have opened that journey to 1,200 shareholders at £95 for the first term.
We take a closer look at the horse behind the Fairyhouse win, why Derham likes him for hurdles and what OLBG Racing syndicate has to offer.
Seven Runs, Then Everything Clicked
Pass The Buck wasn’t an instant success on the Flat. His juvenile season came and went without troubling the winner’s enclosure, but there were better signs once he returned at three.
As the distances increased, so did the promise. A placed effort at Ballinrobe was followed by a respectable try over 2m1f at Limerick, but it was back over 1m2f at Fairyhouse where he finally put everything together.
The market clearly expected something too. Sent off the 11/8 favourite, Pass The Buck travelled through the race before stretching six lengths clear up the stiff finish. After six starts without a win, the improvement was impossible to miss.
Harry Derham certainly noticed.
“He won nicely last time out at Fairyhouse, galloped all the way to the line strongly that day up a stiff finish.”
It turned out to be both his breakthrough and his final appearance for Joseph O’Brien. By the time Pass The Buck next appeared on a racecourse, the Flat would be behind him, and a very different test would lie ahead.
From Joseph O’Brien to Harry Derham
Pass The Buck was bought privately rather than going through the sales ring.
The recommendation came through Joseph O’Brien and bloodstock analyst Kevin Blake, a familiar name to Derham. Blake had previously pointed the trainer towards One Horse Town, who went on to enjoy a successful novice hurdle campaign.
This time, the horse being put forward was a big three-year-old Flat winner who had already been introduced to jumping.
For Derham, the profile made sense.
“This horse came recommended to me to go juvenile hurdling. He had already done a bit of schooling, and he just looked a ready-made juvenile.”
Pass The Buck has since joined Derham at Upper Farm in Berkshire and, by all accounts, has settled quickly. He’s described as relaxed and genuine around the yard, which isn’t a bad starting point for a young horse being asked to change disciplines.
The interesting bit comes when the tapes go up.
Does the Flat Form Translate?
Taking horses off the Flat and sending them juvenile hurdling is hardly a new idea. The intrigue is working out which ones will take to it.
Pass The Buck has a few things in his favour.
At more than 16.1hh, he has the size Derham wants. His seven Flat runs mean he’s already accustomed to raceday, and his run over 2m1f at Limerick at least offers some evidence that longer distances don’t frighten him.
Then there is Fairyhouse.
The winning margin catches the eye, but the manner of it is perhaps more relevant to what comes next. Pass The Buck didn’t scrape home over 1m2f; he kept galloping through a stiff finish and put six lengths between himself and the rest.
Hurdling will ask a completely different question, of course. Rhythm, technique and how he handles a race with obstacles in front of him won’t be known until he does it for real.
That’s what makes the switch interesting.
Derby Blood Over Hurdles
His pedigree wouldn’t immediately scream National Hunt project either.
Pass The Buck is by Australia, the Epsom and Irish Derby winner bred from Galileo and the brilliant Ouija Board.
His dam, Zofar Zogood, is a half-sister to Horoscope, who reached a Flat rating of 110.
There is plenty of Flat class in the family, then, although pedigree alone tells us little about whether Pass The Buck will make a hurdler.
What matters now is whether that Flat ability, coupled with his size and experience, can be channelled into something different.
At three, Derham has time to work it out.
Front Row For the First Season
There is something different about watching a race when one of the horses in it is yours.
That is really the appeal here. Pass The Buck offers a way into ownership without asking newcomers to make the sort of financial commitment that can make a traditional syndicate feel like a big first step.
You get to follow the parts of racing that normally happen out of sight, from mornings at the yard to the build-up before a run, and experience the anticipation that comes with having a personal interest in what happens next.
With 1,200 shareholders, it is naturally a different experience to owning a sizeable percentage of a horse. But for someone who has always fancied getting involved and never quite known where to start, that might be exactly the point.
It gets you off the other side of the rail.
Now for the Hurdles
Pass The Buck is an interesting recruit precisely because nobody yet knows how good he might be at his new job.
His early Flat form was modest, but the story changed as a three-year-old. There were signs of progress before everything came together at Fairyhouse, where he went off favourite and powered six lengths clear up the stiff finish.
Rather than leaving Ireland looking exposed, he left having produced the best performance of his career.
Now almost everything changes.
A new country, a new trainer and, most importantly, a new job over hurdles. Derham has a sizeable young horse whose Flat career was heading in the right direction, with enough early schooling behind him to believe there could be more to come in this sphere.
Nobody knows where that will take him yet, and that’s part of the appeal.
Pass The Buck finished one chapter with a six-length win. The next one starts over hurdles.
To find out more about Pass The Buck, including the syndicate and the ownership options currently available, visit OLBG Racing Syndicates.
