What makes King's Bucks interesting is the company he's been keeping and the way he's been running. His recent form shows four second-place finishes across his last six races — this is a horse that keeps turning up competitive, knocking on the door, just not quite getting through it yet. One of those efforts came at Cheltenham, where De Bromhead admits the horse was still very green — raw and inexperienced — when he finished behind a rival called No Drama This End. Greenness at Cheltenham is forgivable; it's one of the most demanding tracks in the sport, and plenty of good horses have taken time to find their feet there.
De Bromhead's reference point for King's Bucks is striking. He compares the horse's profile to Minella Indo before the Albert Bartlett — a prestigious Grade 1 race at the Cheltenham Festival, one of the top races in Britain and Ireland. Minella Indo was also without a win heading into that race, and went on to win it. De Bromhead is not making that comparison lightly. He's drawing a direct line between a horse who hadn't won yet but had the right profile, and one who did. Whether King's Bucks can follow that script remains to be seen, but the trainer clearly believes the raw ability is there.
Having raced just yesterday, King's Bucks is right in the thick of his season. He hasn't won yet, but the places keep coming, the trainer is bullish, and the target is a major Festival race. For a horse still without a winner, that's a genuinely compelling story — and one worth following closely over the weeks ahead.
| Course | Races | Results | Last visited | Win rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Limerick Galloping |
2 | 2 seconds | 16 Apr | 0% |
| Cheltenham Galloping |
2 | 1 third, 1 other | 13 Mar | 0% |
| Galway Tight |
1 | 1 other | 25 Oct | 0% |
| Gowran Park Undulating |
1 | 1 second | 8 Mar | 0% |