Rare debut winner for Buff Bradley

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Buff Bradley has had lightning strike twice in his 22-year training career with $2.1-million-earner Brass Hat and two-time champion Groupie Doll.

No one is suggesting a 3-year-old colt named Divisidero is about to follow in their footsteps, but a rallying triumph by the 3-year-old Kitten’s Joy colt in his career debut here Saturday “sure was impressive,” Bradley said.

Divisidero, a $250,000 yearling purchase for the Gunpowder Farms of Pennsylvania businessman Tom Keithley, was sent off at 25-1 in the 1 1/16-mile maiden race on grass.

Bradley said that Divisidero “wasn’t fully mature when I had him last year, so he got 60 days on the farm before coming back to me. I think it’s the highest-priced young horse I’ve ever had in the barn.”

Alluding to his subpar win rate with first-time starters – he’s 12 for 389 in his career, just 3 percent – Bradley said with a laugh, “I always say if they win with me first out, they must be a special horse.”

Bradley said the Grade 3 Palm Beach Stakes here Feb. 28 is a possibility for Divisidero’s next start, although he’s also looking to run him in an allowance race.

“But it’s got to be long enough,” Bradley said. “He acts like he’ll run all day.”