Bryan Bushey was mildly disappointed when Point Dume finished fifth in the $200,000 feature on the Claiming Crown card at Churchill Downs in November 2025, but that he was alive to see the race made it markedly more manageable.

A few months after being diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer in the spring of 2024 and being told he had less than six months to live, Bushey did indeed die.

"It's been one of those deals where I've gone from dying at one time," said Bushey, who started Bush Racing Stable with his son David in 2004. "One time I died in the hospital, and they brought me back around. I thought it was over."

As he was being wheeled into the operating room, Bushey told his daughter he was ready to go.

"I didn't know it, but my daughter was with me," he said. "I told them, 'I got stage 4. I'm dying. Leave me alone. Just let me die.' Then I died. And they went and asked my wife, and she gave the blessing to bring me back. And I never knew until my daughter told me. She said, 'Dad, I was the one you were telling not to bring you back.' So it's been a whole family thing."

Bushey's wife, Barbara, fought for her husband at a time when he was too sick and tired to fight for himself. His doctors were successful in their resuscitation efforts. And Bushey has made the most of his second chance, staging a battle befitting those who fought on the fields of Gettysburg 10 minutes from his home.

"I think a diagnosis like that probably hits everyone out of the blue," David Bushey said. "After several tests, they hit us with the fact that it was pancreatic cancer, which is a lot to take in, because we all know what pancreatic cancer means. It's probably one of the most difficult cancers to be diagnosed with, and it's typically pretty short. But dad is a fighter. He was open to following the protocol that was suggested. He has an unbelievable doctor and team."

David and Bryan have comprised a dynamic duo since April 23, 2004, when Bryan claimed Golden Nicolas at Penn National for $8,000. The gelding won his first two starts for Bush Racing Stable and "everyone was hooked from there on," David said.

The Busheys have been playing the claiming game ever since with impressive results. Through March 11, their horses sported a 24-percent win rate -- to go along with a 58-percent return of top-three finishes -- from 1,632 starts. They have owned more than a dozen six-figure earners, including Persie, who won 10 races in 2018 and was named National HBPA Claiming Horse of the Year. They claimed Kaylasaurus for $25,000 and got two stakes wins from her before selling her as a broodmare prospect for $270,000 a year later.

Then there is Point Dume. A $450,000 Keeneland September sales yearling in 2022, the son of Into Mischief had run 21 times by the time Bush Racing claimed him for $40,000 July 4, 2025, the highest claiming price horses run for at Penn National.

Out of the Malibu Moon mare Maya Malibu, the colt was bought by Donato Lanni for SF Racing, Starlight Racing and Madaket Stables. Sent to Bob Baffert on the West Coast, the bay ran three times at Del Mar as a 2-year-old, losing by a combined 58 lengths. That earned him a reverse Horace Greeley, an East-bound trip to the barn of Brittany Russell at Laurel Park. In his first Mid-Atlantic start, he broke his maiden by 11 lengths and got claimed for $30,000. He turned out to be a good earner for three more trainers before Tim Kreiser took over when the Busheys claimed him at the suggestion of David.

"There's not a ton of people at Penn National that are looking to claim horses for $40,000," David said. "We're fortunate enough that we've had some really good partners that trust us in decisions. So, this horse popped up, I made a couple of phone calls, and I said, 'Hey, guys, if you trust me on it, I really like this horse for 40.' He was young at the time, only 4 years old. He's royally bred."

As with any claim, the primary goal was to make more money than they spent, maybe win a few races and have fun. They could have lost him in his first start in the Bush Racing silks, when Kreiser entered him for the same $40,000 tag July 25. The result was a second and, more importantly, no slips in the claim box with his name on them.

"I thought he was a horse that we could just have some fun with at Penn National and run him back in the largest race that they write at Penn, which for us is pretty nice, a $40,000 purse," David said. "That was always the gameplan with him. Claimed him, ran him back three weeks later at that price. He ran a really good second, and just kept getting better for us from there. Thankfully, we didn't lose him first time back or else it would have been pretty disappointing. But then he just kept getting better and better and better."

After a draw-a-line-through-it last in the PA Governor's Cup Stakes on turf Aug. 15, Kreiser decided to take a crack at a $100,000 starter allowance at Delaware Park that the horse was eligible for based on running there the race before the Busheys claimed him. The Sept. 13 race drew a solid field led by Quick to Accuse, who went on to place in multiple stakes among New York-breds; Adero, only 2¼ lengths back when fourth behind Coastal Mission in the 2024 Parx Dirt Mile; and Cadet Corps, two starts removed from a third in the Grade 3 Monmouth Cup.

Bryan Bushey thought the horse was in deep and did not plan to attend, but when he saw three scratches that morning, he told Barbara to get her coat, they were going to Delaware.

Point Dume made that look like a great decision when he led every step, refusing to let Adero or Cadet Corps go by him in the stretch of the mile-and-70-yard race to win by three-quarters of a length at 11-1. That told the connections they were onto something.

"It was a $100,000 allowance but it looked like a $100,000 stakes race for horses in the Mid-Atlantic, including several horses that had run in the Claiming Crown," David Bushey said. "So, we felt like that was a real test for him. When he took those horses on and was challenged around the racetrack and at the quarter pole they pulled right up to him, he just found another gear. That's when we thought, 'OK, I think we've got something here.' "

Running in the Claiming Crown was always a goal for the Busheys, so after Point Dume won the M.P. Ballezzi Appreciation Mile at Parx, David Bushey nominated him. Then he told the trainer, who needed to be convinced that shipping 600 miles was a good idea, even for a $200,000 race.

"It was a bucket-list thing for us to want to go there," David said. "I went to Gulfstream for the Claiming Crown, and I knew of a lot of the horses because they came from the Mid-Atlantic. I sat in the stands and said, 'Someday I want to have a horse in this race.' We've had good horses like Persie and others, but when we're going to bring one there, we wanted to know that we had a real shot, not to just come and just run in the race. I just went on and nominated him without even discussing with Tim, because I knew Tim would probably say, 'We can find something closer. Why run all the way in Kentucky?' "

Kreiser hadn't been to Churchill since the Blame-Zenyatta Breeders' Cup in 2010, but he signed off and Bush Racing Stable was headed for Louisville. The only question was whether Bryan would make it to the race.

"We went back and forth multiple times, who was going and how was I getting there?" Bryan said. "Was I driving there myself or was I riding with somebody else? Our trainer didn't know if he was leaving the day before or a couple of days before. A lot of times, trainers aren't really gung-ho about riding with owners. It's a long ride when you're riding with the owner, but I'm a different owner. Tim ended up driving, and I rode with him. My brother and his wife came in. My son and a friend of his came in. We ended up having an excellent time. I mean, a real good time."

Jockey Angel Cruz did not make the trip, opting to stay home for six mounts at Laurel and two at Charles Town that night. Tyler Gaffalione picked up the mount and was content to sit off the pace in a 14-horse field. Breaking from post 11, he was wide on both turns and despite moving to second in the stretch, settled for fifth going 11⁄8 miles, the farthest he has ever run.

"If you watch the race, the winner of the race cut him off pretty hard at probably the sixteenth pole. But we were just out of horse at that point," David Bushey said. "I'm not looking to take down someone who just achieved their dream so I could move from fifth to fourth. It was just one of those things where we just didn't have enough horse at the end. He ran a good race. In fact, he ran the longest distance of any horse in the race by quite a bit. We loved every minute of it. It was amazing. It was just one of those experiences that you'll just never forget."

Point Dume closed his 13-start 4-year-old campaign with a second in the Kris Kringle Stakes at Parx, a sign of things to come.

Kreiser, a winner of 10 training titles at Penn National including eight straight from 2014-21, cut him back to 6½ furlongs in a $100,000 overnight handicap (formerly the Fire Plug Stakes) at Laurel Jan. 17 and he responded with a game half-length win. The trainer used that race as a prep for the $200,000 General George Stakes on Valentine's Day.

"Yeah, we put him in the race because our goal was the other race, the General George," Kreiser said. "Because we knew we had all the speed you want to see, and, obviously, he could finish. We were waiting for the General George, so we said, 'Well, first he's got to pass the first test,' and he did."

If he passed the exam in the handicap, he aced it in the 7-furlong General George, sprinting to the lead and extending to a 3¾-length win and his first triple-digit Beyer Speed Figure (104). Facing the hard-hitting Blue Kingdom, favorite Quint's Brew and Maryland Million Sprint winner Slam Notion in a field of seven, Point Dume was sent off at 5-1. In his trainer's eyes, he should have been 1-9, especially after his workout at Penn National five days before the race.

"That's when it was really cold out, and the track was a foot deep here," Kreiser said. "I breezed him three-eighths, he went :33 and change [clockers had it at :342⁄5] and galloped out :45 and three on the beach. I'm telling you, no horse in the General George could do what he did over this track that day. I mean, it was like a beach. I've probably never been that excited about going to a horse race before."

That performance had Kreiser thinking about either the $300,000 Carter Stakes-G2 at Aqueduct or the $100,000 Frank Whiteley at Laurel, both April 4.

The General George was an easy day for the horse, but not his owner, who, after being off chemotherapy for several months, got some bad news on test results after the holidays and was not feeling well.

"That was a long day for me," Bryan said. "To be on my feet and moving around. Before that race, I was sitting in whatever chair I could find to make it out to the side of the track. When the horse won, I couldn't believe it. I was amazed. After that, it didn't seem like I had too much trouble getting to the winner's circle."

That's what a good horse will do for you, and Point Dume has proven to be an equine elixir for Bryan Bushey, who deserves a break. This is an owner who cooks for the stable staff, gives them bonuses when horses win and shows genuine appreciation for how they take care of his horse. He has been dealt a lousy hand, but his horses, especially Point Dume, have helped him survive to this point.

"Well, I was figuring to do a lot of different things," said Bryan, who retired as a salesman six years ago at age 62. "I've got a brother who lives in Atlanta. I thought I could go places, but everything's changed a little bit."

What has not wavered is his love of the horses, especially the ones in his stable. At this point, he lives for them, quite literally.