Shades of Mine That Bird? Runaway Ghost has connections dreaming

Kentucky Derby dreams can start in all kinds of places, with New Mexico the origin of them in 2009, when 50-1 shot Mine That Bird won the grandest prize in all of thoroughbred horse racing coming out of Sunland Park.

Could it happen again?

Toting Oakley sunglasses, Lucchese cowboy boots and baseball cap, trainer Todd Fincher and an 86-year-old gentleman named Joe Peacock are the current day protagonists of this story. Together, they teamed to back homebred Runaway Ghost in Sunday's Grade 3 Sunland Derby win that included 50 qualifying points toward the Kentucky Derby.

It marked the first graded stakes win for the participants, and was a long time coming, especially for Peacock. He has bred and owned racehorses since the 1960s, starting with quarter horses before the switch to Thoroughbreds a decade later.

Runaway Ghost’s dam, Rose’s Desert, was also a homebred for Peacock. She retired having amassed $626,035 in earnings with a record of 15:10-5-0. She won multiple stakes with all her races at Sunland and Zia Park.

But almost anyone who owns racehorses dreams of making it to Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May. When Rose’s Desert was bred to Ghostzapper, unbeknownst to Peacock, he had set the wheels in motion toward just that.

Peacock ultimately offered the then-yearling at the 2016 Keeneland September sale with a reserve of $250,000. Bidding fell short by $10,000,  and despite some offers after the sale which matched what he’d originally sought, Peacock went with his gut and retained the colt. They returned to New Mexico, where Peacock’s trainer, Fincher, worked with Runaway Ghost until April 2017, when he was ready to run.

Fincher said,”We transferred Ghost to trainer Michael Machowsky’s barn at Santa Anita Park for a few races. The plans had always been to return Ghost to Sunland when the Mine That Bird Derby and Sunland Derby arose and to get a prep on that surface beforehand."

A native Texan, Peacock is fond of the New Mexico racetrack where he’d had so much success with Ghost’s dam, Rose’s Desert.

Machowsky entered Runaway Ghost in a maiden special weight event on May 12, 2017, in which he ran a respectable second. A month later, Ghost broke his maiden. But he did not race for five months due to sore shins. Once Machowsky got him back into shape, he entered The Golden Nugget Stakes at Golden Gate Fields. Runaway Ghost won.

Connections then pointed toward the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Cash Call Futurity. During the race, 'Ghost ran hard for three quarters of the race and practically trotted home the remainder, coming in last. His jockey just couldn’t get him to relax early on. It was his only finish outside of the exacta so far in seven starts.

Back at Sunland Park, Runaway Ghost won the Riley Allison Stakes. Next out, he finished 2 ½ lengths behind Reride, who won the Mind That Bird Derby and will contend in Saturday's Group 2 UAE Derby in the Dubai World Cup undercard.

Facing a full Sunland Derby field loomed next. This time, Ghost was able to relax before passing horses and gaining the lead turning for home. He won by 2 ¾ lengths, with runner-up Dream Baby Dream six lengths ahead of the third-placed finisher.