beat was the Gallorette, who would later become the Champion older mare on 1946. She finished the year with a record of five wins from seven starts and was named the American Champion Two-Year-Old Filly. On December 24, 1944, the Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion announced that horse racing would be banned indefinitely because of the war effort, effective January 3, 1945. With no way of knowing when racing would resume, the aging Bradley sold much of his stock. In March 1945, Busher was sold to Louis B. Mayer for the then-large sum of $50,000. Hall of Famer Johnny Longden became her jockey and George Odom her trainer. When racing resumed after V-E Day in May 1945, Busher won a six-furlong allowance race at Santa Anita Racetrack by five lengths. On June 2, she won the Santa Susanna Stakes by seven lengths and then on June 9 she won the San Vicente Stakes, facing colts for the first time. On June 23, she faced colts again in the Santa Anita Derby, where she was the 1-2 favorite. She had a three-length lead in the stretch but was caught at the finish line by Bymeabond. On July 4, she faced older fillies and mares for the first time in the Santa Margarita Handicap. Despite being the co-highweight at 126 pounds, she won by lengths. She then traveled to Washington Park in Chicago for the Cleopatra Handicap on July 25, winning by lengths. In the Arlington Handicap on August 4, she ran at a distance of miles for the first time and faced older males for the first time, but still won by lengths in wire-to-wire fashion. However, she then finished third in the Beverly Handicap after being assigned 128 pounds, conceding 12 pounds to the four-year-old winner, Durazna, and 26 pounds to the runner-up, Letmeknow. A one-mile match race was then arranged between Busher and Durazna at level weights. The two battled all the way around the track, with Busher finally prevailing by of a length. Her next start in the Washington Park Handicap on September 3 is generally regarded as the best race of her career. The field included future Hall of Famer Armed, who was considered the top handicap horse in the country at the time. Busher tracked the early pace in third, then went to the lead at the top of the stretch and withstood a late