Wayne Spalding, owner of the 1st grade winning grass horse Bullards . Alley , passed away on March 17 after a long battle with cancer. He is 56 years old.
Spalding has a knack for finding low profile horses in sales and has had great success on the track. Bullards Alley was $11,000 in the Fasig-Tipton race-age racehorse sale in summer 2014. Son of Flower Lane race against Spalding’s childhood friend Faron McCubbins; he captured the Pattison Canadian International Stakes (G1T) at Honeysuckle equals 10 3/4 of the length, giving coach Tim Glyshaw his first grade 1 win.
Bullards Alley scored 40 starts in his five-year career with a 6-5-7 record with $928,622 earnings for Spalding and the McCubbins. His first bet win was 3 on the Woodchopper Stakes on land, then he switched to grass to win the Louisville Handicap (G3T) at Churchill Downs the following year with a runner-up at Calumet Farm Kentucky Turf Cup Stakes (G3T) at Kentucky Downs and a third in Sycamore Stakes (G3T) at Keeneland.
At age 5, Bullards Alley returned to Louisville Handicap to finish third, finish second in the Singspiel Stakes (G3T), score a victory in Pattison, and finish the year in Gulfstream Park with a second in H. Allen Jerkens Stock. He’s back in 6th place to run three more times, hitting the table once in the WL McKnight Handicap (G3T) in January.
“(Spalding) has always had a great time at the races; racehorses are very important to him,” coach Tim Glyshaw said March 22. “He did a great job of what most do. people in the industry would consider a young rancher; he made a decent amount of money with them.”
The Paddy O’Prado The Filly Fun Paddy was offered by Spalding from the 2018 Ocala Breeders Sales for 2-year-olds and Race Age Horses in June for $12,000. She shelled out $215,416 for 47 attempts on the oval, with a 6-5-7 record. Two years ago Fun Paddy, Spalding bought Dark Arden from the 2016 OBS Sale for $17,000 to help her win $232,518 on the track — she raced for him 2 through 4.
Glyshaw commented: “He’s a great guy and will do anything to help you. He got me my first graded win at Churchill when the Bullards Alley beat the Louisville Handicap, and won. my only level 1 after beating Pattison.”
Spalding’s funeral was held Tuesday at Mount Washington, United States. A chariot driven by two Percherons carried him from the church to his final resting place.
