When Eclipse, by Orlando, was imported to the U.S. in the late 1850s by Richard Ten Broeck and Francis Morris, he arrived at a propitious moment for a horse of his specific proclivities. Although he had dead-heated for the win in the 10-furlong Newmarket Stakes with subsequent Epsom Derby winner Beadsman, he was primarily a speed horse, as evidenced by his victory in the Clearwell Stakes at Newmarket as a 2-year-old the previous year. American racing had held onto the tradition of four-mile heat racing far longer than their English counterparts, but shorter races determined by a single heat were finally coming into vogue, creating an opportunity for a horse whose primary genetic offering was speed. Eclipse twice finished second to the immortal Lexington, last of the great American four-milers, on the American sire list, and his speedy son Alarm established a two-pronged male line that is still hanging on 160 years later. The latest candidate to extend the Plaudit branch of Alarm’s male line is Saturday’s Grade 3 Bob Hope Stakes winner Mucho Gusto, a 15th-generation male line descendant of Eclipse, by Orlando. :: DRF BREEDING LIVE: Real-time coverage of breeding and sales Mucho Gusto’s sire, Mucho Macho Man is perhaps the most highly qualified representative of the Alarm male line to go to stud since his grandsire, 1994 Horse of the Year Holy Bull. Bred in Florida by John and Carole Rio, Mucho Macho Man is the best son of his sire, Macho Uno, champion 2-year-old male of 2000, who was, in turn, the best son of Holy Bull. Mucho Macho Man’s dam, Ponche de Leona, by Ponche, was a speedy, precocious stakes winner in California, capturing the Anoakia Stakes at Santa Anita, but she possessed little in the way of pedigree to back up her obvious talent. She has also produced stakes winner Southern Girl, by Tapit, but there are no other stakes winners under Mucho Macho Man’s first four dams. Mucho Macho Man showed talent right from the start for Reeves Racing Stable, Dream Team One Racing, and trainer Timothy Ritvo, running second and third in his first two starts before breaking his maiden over 1 1/16 miles at Monmouth. He confirmed his ability by running second to the highly regarded To Honor and Serve in both the Grade 2 Nashua and Grade 2 Remsen to round out his 2-year-old campaign. Tim Ritvo’s wife, Kathy, took over Mucho Macho Man’s training when her husband was appointed vice-president of Gulfstream Park, and he won his first stakes in the Grade 2 Risen Star at Fair Grounds before finishing third as favorite in the Louisiana Derby there. Mucho Macho Man ran with great credit in the Kentucky Derby, rallying from mid-pack to finish third behind Animal Kingdom and Nehro, but the tank was empty in the Preakness and Belmont. In retrospect, Mucho Macho Man probably was simply not mature enough for the classics. He had not had time to fill out his huge, lanky frame, but by age 4 he was the finished article. In a long, tough campaign, he won the Grade 2 Suburban and Grade 2 Gulfstream Park handicaps and ran second to Fort Larned in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. He took a while to get it together at 5, but finished his career with a flourish, winning the Grade 1 Awesome Again at Santa Anita and then holding off the closing charge of Will Take Charge to win the Classic by a nose. Mucho Macho Man was retired to Adena Springs, and Mucho Gusto is his first stakes winner from his first crop of 70 foals, and he has also sired stakes-placed Mucho Unusual and Belle Laura among his seven winners. Bred in Kentucky by Teneri Farm and Bernardo Alvarez Calderon, Mucho Gusto is the third foal, third winner, and first stakes winner out of the winning Giant’s Causeway mare Itsagiantcauseway. She has subsequently produced a weanling colt by Jack Milton and was bred to Alpha in 2018. Itsagiantcauseway’s dam, Countervail, by Seeking the Gold, produced nothing of note, but comes from the best family developed by Josephine Abercrombie’s Pin Oak Stud. Countervail is half-sister to Canadian champion Peaks and Valleys, by Mt. Livermore, and to multiple stakes winner Alternate, by Seattle Slew, dam of Grade 2 winner and promising young sire Alternation, by Distorted Humor. The family, which traces to the Amerigo mare Take a Stand, purchased by Abercrombie in the 1970s, has also produced Pin Oak’s foundation sire Broken Vow, by Unbridled, and champion Forever Together, by Belong to Me. Mucho Gusto sold for only $14,000 to Kelly Lively as a “short” yearling at the 2017 Keeneland January sale and was pinhooked for $95,000 to S.R. Schwartz at the 2017 Keeneland September yearling sale. He failed to sell at only $55,000 at the OBS March sale last spring, but blossomed into a $625,000 purchase by Michael Lund Petersen two months later at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic sale of 2-year-olds in training after breezing the fastest quarter-mile of the sale.