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Best of 2024: William “Buck” Butler and In Spite of Mama

by Mary Eddy

To celebrate a remarkable year of racing action on the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) circuit, the NYRA Press Office checked in with a selection of trainers, owners, jockeys and racing personalities to share their reflections on the memorable year.

William “Buck” Butler is a longtime owner, breeder, and fan of horse racing. The New York native has seen his success in the sport skyrocket over the past six years thanks in great part to his prized broodmare In Spite of Mama.

The daughter of Speightstown is out of the Butler-campaigned Mama Theresa and has become a cornerstone broodmare in his program after producing three stakes winners from five foals to race. Her top progeny are dual graded stakes-winning millionaire My Mane Squeeze, graded stakes-placed Rotknee, and recent Empire Classic-winner Mama’s Gold, all bred in New York by Butler. Mama’s Gold flattered his Empire Classic-winning form when returning on December 12 to win an open-company allowance and match his Empire Classic Beyer Speed Figure of 103.

My Mane Squeeze, co-owned by Butler with WinStar Farm, has stamped herself as a standout in the current crop of sophomore fillies, notching a pair of state-bred stakes scores at Aqueduct to start the year and subsequently providing Butler with his first graded stakes victory in the Grade 2 Eight Belles in May at Churchill Downs. The daughter of Audible went on to earn a Grade 1 placing when third in the Test presented by Ticketmaster in August at Saratoga Race Course and added the Grade 3 Dogwood to her ledger in September at Churchill Downs.

Currently, In Spite of Mama’s bloodline is carrying on through her first foal, the Into Mischief bay Lookin for Trouble, who stands at stud in New Mexico at Gallagos Del Norte Racing. His first foals are weanlings this year.

Butler spoke of his involvement in horse racing and the New York-bred program, and the ride that In Spite of Mama and her progeny have taken him on.

Q: Going back to where it all began, what is In Spite of Mama’s story and how did she come to be?

BB: “She is out of Mama Theresa, who I bought at the Ocala sale in 2006. I had nominal success with her, and at the time I wasn’t in the breeding business. She was my only stakes-placed mare, and I just said, ‘Let’s go.’ She was a half-sister to [Grade 1-winner] Haynesfield, and I got stuck in my mind that I had to breed her to Speightstown. I bred her to him and lost the pregnancy, went back the second year and we lost that pregnancy also. We found she had a tear in her uterus. So the next year, I went to auction and bought a Speightstown no-guarantee season, and that resulted in In Spite of Mama.

“She wasn’t tremendously successful as a racehorse, but in my mind, I went about it the same way: I fell in love with Into Mischief early when he was affordable to me [laughs]. I bred her to Into Mischief and got Lookin for Trouble. I bred her to Runhappy after, and we got Rotknee out of that one.”

Q: Rotknee turned out to be a tremendous racehorse, banking over $700,000 with a 23-11-3-2 record that includes seven stakes wins. My Mane Squeeze took it a step higher and is among the top sophomore fillies in the country with two graded wins under her belt. What went into the breeding of these two great horses and what has the journey been like?

BB: “All of my breeding smarts are thanks to my buddy Jody Sparks out in Paris, Kentucky at Sparks View Farm. He puts up with all my crazy ideas and talks me down off ledges. He’s a great man and a great horseman. A majority of In Spite of Mama’s matings are because of him.

“Rotknee is a nickname a college friend used to call me, so I named the horse that. He was special for me, and then when My Mane Squeeze came along, she cranked it up a notch for me. We are all dreamers, but I don’t think we’ve seen the best of her yet and I think there’s more to be seen. I’ve got some heavy-duty plans for her – Breeders’ Cup and work backwards from there. That’s the long-term plan.

“She is my first graded stakes-winner and watching both my kids and my wife get all dressed up for it was fun, but I’m still in my jeans [laughs].”

Q: What are some of the benefits to racing and breeding in New York, and what led you to base your breeding operation in the Empire State?

BB: “I sit back and look at the In Spite of Mama train, and I get checks that you wouldn’t necessarily anticipate. I got into breeding because I kept going down to Ocala when I was new at this, and I’d buy a 2-year-old down there and come up here and it wouldn’t pan out. I decided I would rather breed my own horses than buy someone else’s.

“I was born in New York and live in Westchester County, so I’m a hometown racer. I’ve had success with the New York-breds, and I’ve gotten involved with Americanrevolution and Honest Mischief. I think there’s upside and I keep bringing them back because number one, I’m here, and number two, financially, it makes sense.

“I’m up at Cedar Ridge now with Sue Lundy, and the relationships I have with the people in New York are a big part of it for me. I find the people in New York are good human beings, and I’ve only been blessed with some real good people here in New York.”

Q: Lookin for Trouble is an attractive stallion in a regional market as a son of Into Mischief and half-brother to a dual graded stakes-winner. How does it feel as a breeder to see one of your homebreds continuing his family’s legacy at stud?

BB: “He is kicking tail out there, and I tried to buy him back – they laughed at me! I believe he was bred to about 20 mares this year and 10 last year. I didn’t have the success that I do now at the time, so I didn’t have the foresight to keep him as a stallion, but it’s been nice to see him doing well there.”

Q: In Spite of Mama is the gift that keeps on giving and was represented by yet another stakes winner when 4-year-old Mama’s Gold upset the Empire Classic in October. What are your future breeding plans for her?

BB: “All of her foals are kind of all over the spectrum, and one common thing is speed. My Mane Squeeze likes the mile, and Lookin for Trouble would have dominated three-and-a-half furlong races [laughs].

“We bred her to Runhappy again for a 2023 foal, but we lost that one and we bred her late last year to Honest Mischief, so she had a foal by him this year and then I left her open. I just made plans to go to Life Is Good with her this spring. I’m keeping my fingers crossed. I have not a clue what I’m doing, but I am having an absolute ball doing it.”

America’s Day at the Races will present live coverage and analysis of the Aqueduct Racetrack winter meet on the networks of FOX Sports. For the broadcast schedule and channel finder, visit https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/tv-schedule/.

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