Page 172 - Speedhorse April 2019

An open letter to Ivan:
I’ve heard you say your first horse was a little black mustang mare caught wild in the Rockies. I know you loved Town Policy like you loved few horses since that little mustang mare.
Town Policy was our Kelso, our Forego. We always believed he would rise to su- premacy again and so did he. You could
see his confidence from the top of the grandstand, and you could see it in his day- to-day behavior. He was a professional, just like the men who bred, trained, and rode him. He would do anything except to allow himself to be cheapened. That was one act which was not in his repertoire.
Town Policy nurtured dreams for
the rest of us. Although it was you and Blane who had to risk your lives on
the wild trips to Mexico, the rest of us pulled for you. And we celebrated as
a whole industry united when he was recaptured. By that time, he was of the public domain. He was our horse as well as your horse. When those thieves smuggled him across the border, smoth- ering him under furniture pads and an- esthetic, they didn’t know they carried
a cargo of dreams. They were destined to fail, if for no other reason than that they were trying to obstruct the destiny of Town Policy.
I don’t know how you lost your little black mustang mare, but I know it must have been tough. If it’s any consolation, just realize that Town Policy brought a great thrill and a feeling of hope to those who knew him. He was the friend of the racing fan, and none of them, rich or poor, will forget him.
Your Friend, Scott Wells
T
ay that Reb’s Policy and
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ptown Girl have crossed
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The Thoroughbred Reb’s Policy is the sire of Town Policy.
R e e b b’ ’s s P Po o l l i i c cy y i i s s t t h h e e s s i i r re e o o f f Quarter Horse earners of nearly $2 million
This is Three Bars blood through some of the finest members of the Three Bars family.
Three Bars was the first major Thoroughbred breeding influence in Quarter Horse racing after the inception of the AQHA. His breeding influ- ence will always be felt in the industry.
Three Bars’ sire record is awesome. He has sired 14 Champions, over 65 stakes winners and is the former leading sire of money earners with earners of over $3.1 million, all before the influx of big purses in Quarter Horse racing.
The Three Bars influence was shown in 1962 when 15 of the top 50 money earners were by Three Bars - that is 30 percent of the top 50 horses in training that year.
Three Bars rose from an unheralded beginning to the top of Quarter Horse racing. Several times he sold for less than $300 as a youngster. Then after he earned $20,000 and became stakes placed as an older horse, he achieved greater value. But still, Sid Vail paid only $10,000 for the horse in 1945 and later that was his stud fee. That was long before $10,000 breeding fees became commonplace in Quarter Horse racing.
The Three Bars sired running Champions read like a Hall Of Fame. They include the incredibly fast Pokey Bar, Bunny’s Bar Maid, Triple Lady, Bardella, and the aforementioned Breeze Bar and Tonto Bars Gill.
Three Bars’ daughters produced the likes of Easy Jet, Go Josie Go, Anna Dial and Dupli- cate Copy.
The Three Bars influence was not just felt through the racing end of the Quarter Horse industry. His sons like Sugar Bars and his grandson Doc Bar have been major factors in the show and performance world.
It is now 15 years after his death and it can be safely said that virtually every Quarter Horse owner and breeder owns a horse with Three Bars blood in it somewhere.
One of the great Three Bars’ bred mares was Miss Louton, the second dam of Town Policy.
By Three Bars Champion son Tonto Bars Gill, Miss Louton was the 1958 Champion 2-Year-Old Filly, the 1959 Champion 3-Year- Old Mare and the 1959 Champion Mare. She raced through her 5-year-old season and won or placed in 24 stakes events. That sounds like her grandson Town Policy, who has won or placed in 23 added-money events at last count.
An interesting comparison is that Miss Lou- ton earned over $74,000 and Town Policy has banked over $830,000. That is over a 10-time increase in earnings, and the two raced only two decades apart.
When Town Policy won the 1977 Kinder- garten he earned over $115,000, while Miss Louton received a check for $1,687 when she ran second in the 1958 Kindergarten. Today, horses get more for placing in claiming races than Miss Louton got for placing in a major stakes for juveniles.
Like Town Policy, Miss Louton quickly moved into the stakes ranks as a 2 year old. She ran fifth in the Kansas Futurity when it was held at La Mesa Park, and then came back to post wins in the Nursery Handicap, Ruidoso Futurity, RMQHA Futurity and the C.T. Guseman Memorial.
Miss Louton then won seven stakes as a 3 year old, five stakes as a 4 year old, and posted her last stakes win as a 5 year old. Town Policy also posted stakes wins in each year from his 2-year-old through his 5-year-old seasons.
After winning 25 races, Miss Louton was retired and produced nine winners. Those nine winners included three stakes winners and a pair of stakes-placed competitors.
The leading money earner produced by
Miss Louton was Louton’s Angel, an Azure Te filly that won 10 of 21 outs while earning over $78,000. Her biggest payday came with a win in the Rainbow Futurity Consolation.
Miss Louton produced two stakes winners from the cover of Breeze Bar, Town Policy’s dam Camptown Girl and Beulah Park Jet Straw Stakes winner First Monday.
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