Trainer Turned Bloodstock Agent, Pender Continuing To Find Diamonds In the Rough

[Wandering Eyes]

For about a decade and a half, Mike Pender punched well above his weight as a trainer on the ultra-competitive Southern California circuit, winning Grade I races with modestly bred and moderately priced runners like Ultimate Eagle (Mizzen Mast) and Jeranimo (Congaree), each acquired for $70,000 out of the breeze-up sales on behalf of his client B.J. Wright.

About a year after saddling Lombo (Graydar) to an 8-1 upset in the 2018 GIII Robert B. Lewis Stakes, Pender switched gears and entered the bloodstock arena, but without the same level of financial support given him by Wright, who had passed away a few years prior. But with a focus on due diligence and possessing the eye of a skilled judge, Pender has kept on plying his trade successfully, if, indeed, well under the radar.

Two of Pender's latest success stories are a pair of Florida-bred fillies by Bucchero, sourced 12 months apart at the OBS June Sale, each acquired for $40,000 and neither loaded up on a van with owners already in place. It was a roll of the dice Pender was willing to take.

“I think it keeps me really focused and hungry, I sort of ask myself, 'If I buy these, am I OK owning these myself?',” said Pender, who turned 59 on Valentine's Day. “That's a really tough question for a lot of bloodstock agents.”

A chestnut daughter of Corfu Lady (Corfu), Queen Maxima was knocked down to Pender after breezing a quarter-mile in a bullet :20 3/5. The February foal hails from the female family of the good Florida-based handicap horse Halo's Image and Pender said she always had that certain je ne sais quois about her.

“It's hard to put a definition on what 'it' is and to this day, I still really can't quantify what it is about her,” Pender said. “One of the great things about the 2-year-old sales is that you have these videos of the horses going at full speed and you can really get a feel for what they can do, how they move, see how it all comes together. She did everything so well, breezed fast and galloped out well.”

But, as is so frequently the case with young Thoroughbreds, her development was not entirely straight-forward.

“She came in and she had a variety of minor ailments, she's very refined. I wouldn't say fine-boned, she's got plenty of bone,” Pender related. “I told the owners that she had all the tools and that if we gave her some time, that we could really have something. They were so patient and a lot of owners don't have that sort of patience. I mean seven months later and she's still in the barn.”

A highly impressive debut winner sprinting over the Del Mar turf in August, Queen Maxima was a better-than-it-looked 10th going a mile in early September, but that set her up for a barnstorming runner-up effort at longshot odds in the Sept. 28 Unzip Me Stakes down the hill at Santa Anita. Ahead of her that day was Toupie (Uncle Mo), who took out the GIII Las Cienegas Stakes a couple of starts later.

An unlucky runner-up going five-eighths at Del Mar Nov. 24, Queen Maxima has since won two straight in allowance company for trainer Jeff Mullins–a Dec. 29 down-the-hiller in which she came from a seemingly impossible position to be along in time (video) and a latest score Jan. 23, where she raced atypically close to a strong pace before showing a similar late turn of acceleration (video).

“To sit up on fractions like that and fire home, that was something special,” Pender said. “But then again, if she was ridden four or five lengths off the pace, you'd have seen that turn of foot she has. She's special, very versatile. The sky's the limit. She's a different horse now than she was and I would be very surprised if she didn't stay a mile going forward.”

Queen Maxima returns to stakes competition in the Feb. 22 Wishing Well Stakes and could try the dirt at some stage, Pender suggested.

Queen Maxima | Benoit photo

Pender's other OBS June find is Robin With a Why, acquired post-RNA last spring after she breezed a furlong in :10 flat. She had previously fetched $15,000 as a short yearling and was bought back for $22,000 at OBS October. The agent ended up holding on to her longer than he may have liked.

“I had come to the acceptance that Robin With a Why was going to be mine, but I was approached to see if she was for sale during the summer at Del Mar,” he said. “[Trainer] Paul [Aguirre] told me that when she goes out to work, she outworks everything in the barn, but we didn't really know what she was beating. We knew she had a competitive spirit and she almost rewarded us first time out.”

Off at nearly 19-1 in a Jan. 19 maiden special weight turf sprint going six furlongs, the dark bay sat handy to a good pace, was in front a furlong from home and was run down by the more-experienced Canto Della Terra (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}), who was making her stateside debut for Phil d'Amato as the 9-10 favorite on the back of strong Irish form (video).

Aside from the talent on display, the two fillies are otherwise very different, Pender said.

“That's the beauty of this business. A good horse can come from any sire,” he said. “Robin is this big, gawky, oversized, lanky filly, a mammoth, flatter-footed specimen that has a ton of body, whereas Queen Maxima is more refined, a sort of porcelain goddess. Robin, when you get in with her in her stall, she'll pin you in the corner and try to bite your head off. Queen Maxima? She drops her head right on your shoulder. Two different personalities.”

Bucchero stood his first five seasons at Pleasant Acres Stallions in Central Florida before moving to McMahon of Saratoga in New York for the 2024 season. He now stands at the fledgling Ironhorse Stallions, and Pender makes no effort to hide his affection for the 13-year-old sire.

“I absolutely adore Bucchero as a stallion because he's priced right and you can buy his runners at the sale for a fair price,” he said. “I joke with [Bucchero and Ironhorse Stallions Managing Partner] Harlan [Malter] that [Bucchero] is the poor man's Into Mischief.

“He's a sire that can get you any kind, as you can see with these two fillies. He is making racehorses that just go out there and run and you know in the heat of battle, they're going to lay their bodies down and fight all the way to the finish. I just love that in a stallion.”

Among Pender's other marquee purchases are Artislas (Catalina Cruiser), winner of last year's GIII Del Mar Juvenile Turf for many of the Queen Maxima owners; and Hidden Connection (Connect), a filly pinhooked by Pender for $85,000 who became a graded winner at two and sold for $1.5 million at Keeneland November last fall.

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