Horse Racing: Buckmaker

For all his chronic hoof trouble—which forced him out of last year's Kentucky Derby and kept him inactive for much of this spring—Ogden Phipps's Buckpasser still would be more aptly named Buckmaker. In three seasons, the four-year-old son of Tom Fool has started 28 races, won 24 and earned $1,347,744—ranking him third on the alltime moneywinning list behind Kelso ($1,977,896) and Round Table ($1,749,869). Last year Buckpasser set a world record of 1 min. 32 sec. for the mile, and ran away with the voting for Horse of the Year, a title he should retain in 1967 barring reinjury.

After that, green pastures. At New York's Aqueduct Race Track last week, Owner Phipps announced that Buckpasser has been syndicated for stud duty and will retire next year to Lexington, Ky. Dividing the horse into 32 equal shares—each of which entitles its own er to one stud service per year—Phipps will retain 16 shares himself, has sold the remaining 16 to other breeders at $150,000 apiece. Total worth of the syndicate: $4,800,000, making Buckpasser, who has yet to father his first foal, the highest-priced stallion in history.