| Puca | |
|---|---|
| Sire | Big Brown |
| Grandsire | Boundary |
| Dam | Boat's Ghost |
| Damsire | Silver Ghost |
| Sex | Mare |
| Foaled | May 17, 2012 [1] |
| Country | Kentucky, United States |
| Colour | Bay |
| Breeder | Jerry Crawford & Paul Pompa Jr. |
| Owner | Donegal Racing |
| Trainer | William I. Mott |
| Record | 17: 4 - 2 - 1 |
| Earnings | US$299,406 [2] |
| Awards | |
| Kentucky Broodmare of the Year (2024) | |
| Last updated on November 5, 2025 | |
Puca (foaled May 17, 2012) is an American thoroughbred racehorse, who raced from 2014 to 2017 for Donegal Racing. She is out of Boat's Ghost, by the sire Big Brown. [3]
Her success has come as a broodmare, as she has produced three Grade I winners: 2023 Kentucky Derby winner Mage, 2024 Belmont Stakes and Haskell Stakes winner Dornoch, and 2025 Pennsylvania Derby winner Baeza. She is the only horse in history to produce two full siblings to win Triple Crown races, [4] with Mage and Dornoch both sired by 2017 champion juvenile Good Magic. She was named 2024 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year. [5]
Puca won four races in her career, and placed in the Grade II Gazelle Stakes. After her racing career, Puca was sold for $275,000 to bloodstock agent Thomas Clark at the 2017 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale. The following year, at The November Sale at Fasig-Tipton, she sold for $475,000 while in foal to Gun Runner. [6] That foal, Gunning, would become a stakes-placed runner. [7] In 2022 she foaled a McKinzie colt, Baeza, [8] who would win the Pennsylvania Derby as a three-year-old. In 2023, the year that Mage won the Kentucky Derby, Puca was sent to that year's November Breeding Stock Sale at Keeneland while in foal to Good Magic. After a final bid of $2.8 million that did not meet the reserve price, she was purchased privately by John Stewart's Resolute Racing for $2.9 million. [9] After that sale, she produced a colt and a filly by Good Magic. [10]
In August 2025, it was reported that Stewart was planning to send Puca to The November Sale at Fasig-Tipton. Stewart told a horse racing podcast that he would set a strong reserve price and it would take "north of $5 million to buy her." [10] On November 3, 2025, the 13-year-old Puca went through the sales ring and sold for $5 million to UK-based Ace Stud Bloodstock, the stallion brand of Yuesheng Zhang's Yulong Investments. Ace Stud manager Paul Curran said that the initial plan was to keep Puca in the United States to support sires Raging Torrent and Carl Spackler, the latter of which had recently retired. [7]
| Name | Sire | Year | Achievements |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gunning, chestnut mare | Gun Runner | 2019 | stakes placed |
| Mage, chestnut stallion | Good Magic | 2020 | Winner of Grade I Kentucky Derby |
| Dornoch, bay colt | Good Magic | 2021 | Winner of Grade I Belmont Stakes and Haskell Stakes |
| Baeza, bay colt | McKinzie | 2022 | Winner of Grade I Pennsylvania Derby |
| Good Magic | 2024 | ||
| Good Magic | 2025 | ||
| Sire Big Brown (2005) | Boundary (1990) | Danzig (1977) | Northern Dancer (CAN) (1961) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pas de Nom (1968) | |||
| Edge (1978) | Damascus (1964) | ||
| Ponte Vecchio (1970) | |||
| Mien (1999) | Nureyev (1977) | Northern Dancer (CAN) (1961) | |
| Special (1969) | |||
| Miasma (1992) | Lear Fan (1961) | ||
| Syrian Circle (1979) | |||
| Dam Boat's Ghost (2004) | Silver Ghost (1982) | Mr Prospector (1970) | Raise a Native 1961 |
| Gold Digger 1962 | |||
| Misty Gallore (1976) | Halo (1969) | ||
| Flight Dancer (1968) | |||
| Rocktheboat (1996) | Summer Squall (1987) | Storm Bird (CAN) (1978) | |
| Weekend Surprise (1980) | |||
| Native Boat (1989) | Native Royalty (1967) | ||
| Boat In A Moat (1984) [11] |
* Puca is inbred 4S x 4S x 5D to the stallion Northern Dancer (CAN)
* Puca is inbred 4S x 5S to the stallion Damascus
* Puca is inbred 4D x 5D to the stallion Raise a Native