Horse Profile: The Waco Kid

Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Scouting Report

(Editor's note: Originally published in the 2024 BRISnet Breeders' Cup International Report)

Palmer’s other runner, The Waco Kid, comes off a front-running coup in the Somerville Tattersall (G3) at Newmarket. If that career high may have been aided by soft going, he has also won on good-to-firm, and his pedigree is favorable for adapting to Del Mar. The caveat is that his preceding races didn’t exactly presage a breakthrough at that level.

Like stablemate Seagulls Eleven, The Waco Kid was bred by Ireland’s Tally-Ho Stud. The nearly $103,000 Tattersalls October yearling is by the prolific Mehmas and out of a Galileo half-sister to Kameko (sire of New Century). The Waco Kid’s granddam is Sweeter Still, a Grade 3 winner in Southern California. 

A resilient fourth at 16-1 in his Newbury debut, where he kept getting herded toward the far side, The Waco Kid won next out over the same track and six-furlong trip. He stalked and bounded away enthusiastically by 2 1/4 lengths.

The Waco Kid wheeled back for the Richmond (G2) at Glorious Goodwood, but had a spot of trouble at the start and got no nearer than fifth at odds of 14-1. An even bigger longshot in the Acomb (G3) at 50-1, he mixed it up early with The Lion in Winter before retreating to a distant fourth (a further five lengths behind third-placer Ruling Court).

Trying listed level in the Flying Scotsman S. at Doncaster, The Waco Kid fared much better in third to Benevento and Symbol of Honour. But the stalker was caught for speed briefly at the crucial juncture, the top two got away from him, and he belatedly scrambled home. Benevento has since come back to finish fourth in the Horris Hill (G3), albeit on heavy going.

The Waco Kid went off as a 13-2 shot in the Somerville Tattersall, and a whiff of opportunism surrounded his minor upset. Drawn nearer the stands’ side, he was sent to the lead and bagged the rail in a clever maneuver that proved decisive in the soft conditions. Wathnan Racing recruit Diego Ventura (see Magnum Force in the Juvenile Turf Sprint) and O’Brien favorite Monumental couldn’t catch him, and they ultimately tired as he padded his margin to 2 1/4 lengths. The Waco Kid was also reversing form with Symbol of Honour, who trudged home fourth. 

The form doesn’t come across as anything special. Diego Ventura has since been denied in the Doncaster S. Monumental, although he was pre-entered in the Juvenile Turf, has been deemed superfluous to Ballydoyle’s requirements, and he’s bound for this week’s Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Training Sale. 

Palmer blamed himself for The Waco Kid’s lack of Group 1 entries. In his defense, The Waco Kid didn’t really look like a top-flight colt in embryo over the summer. In fact, he was cataloged for Tattersalls himself, until connections opted to roll the dice at Del Mar.

Unlike the scopey Seagulls Eleven, The Waco Kid is a small type whom Palmer sees as peaking at two. Thus he wants to give him every opportunity to achieve as much as he can this year.