Baltimore Bucko had two American segments of his career in jump racing – a modest span of two races in the autumn of 2020, and a career-defining summer campaign in 2021. Baltimore Bucko was at his best from late June to mid-August of 2021, a season highlighted by a win in the Grade 1 A.P. Smithwick Memorial at Saratoga in July. The success landed Baltimore Bucko among the finalists for the Eclipse Award as the outstanding steeplechaser of the year. Sadly, Baltimore Bucko sustained a fatal injury at Belmont Park in mid-September. The well-traveled Baltimore Bucko won 3 of 12 starts in a career that began in the United States and included four starts in Ireland and Northern Ireland in late 2020 and early 2021 before a return to the United States later in 2021. Owned by Rod and Alice Moorhead’s Buttonwood Farm and trained in 2021 by Keri Brion, Baltimore Bucko did not have the form of a championship contender early in the year, losing three starts in Ireland and Northern Ireland in handicap races. Once back in the United States, Baltimore Bucko bloomed. A 5-year-old gelding in 2021, Baltimore Bucko began his domestic campaign with a fine second in the Green Pasture Novices’ Hurdle in Nashville on June 26. Baltimore Bucko closed from last of 12 to finish a head behind Chief Justice in the race at 2 1/4 miles. :: Full list of 2021 Eclipse Awards finalists, including profile stories The win was enough to give Baltimore Bucko the role of favorite in the $150,000 Smithwick Memorial against open-company hurdlers at 2 1/16 miles, the first steeplechase of the Saratoga meeting. This time, Baltimore Bucko led throughout under jockey Thomas Garner and was never threatened, drawing clear to win the richest race of his career by 5 3/4 lengths over well-regarded stablemate French Light. “I was really happy with the way he won it,” Garner told the press. “I was almost a passenger most of the way and I just had to help him out that last couple of furlongs.” The Smithwick was the first Grade 1 win for Brion, a former assistant to legendary steeplechase trainer Jonathan Sheppard. “I figured he might get loose on the lead and no one would catch him,” Brion said. Baltimore Bucko faced a more difficult test in his final start of the Saratoga season, in the Grade 1 Jonathan Sheppard Hurdle at 2 3/8 miles on Aug. 18, a race formerly known as the New York Turf Writers Cup. Baltimore Bucko set the pace, but could not withstand a challenge in the stretch and was beaten 4 3/4 lengths by stablemate The Mean Queen, the odds-on favorite. Baltimore Bucko carried top weight of 156 pounds, nine more than The Mean Queen. Baltimore Bucko suffered a fatal injury in the William Entenmann Memorial Hurdle on Sept. 16 at Belmont Park when he fell at the third obstacle while racing near the front.