Page 89 - July 2015

Partnership Breeding Stock
The partnership’s first stakes-winning horse was Mini Rock, a 1999 Chicks Beduino mare out of The Signature daughter Miga Ja. “She was a great little mare,” Cindy says. The group had high hopes for her as a broodmare, but she ended up dying of melanoma when just 9 years old. “That was our first taste of tragedy after my brother and I took over the partnership,” Cindy adds.
“The most important thing we’re going for is the best racing horse we can get, out of a good mare that Polly and Jay raised,” Char adds. “Mini Rock was family raised.”
The mare’s loss was a huge disappointment, but a year or so before she died, Scoop Vessels had contacted the group wanting to breed her to First Down Dash on a share deal. Mini Rock foaled the Parsons’ stallion, Parsons Rock, in 2008. “He’s one of the more versatile stallions we’ll have,” Char says. “He’s very agile and does well at cutting. We’re going toward breed-
ing him to good race mares, barrel mares and performance mares.
“We have two Parsons Rock geldings that will race next year,” Char adds. “We’re getting more and more of him into the mix. And, he’s bred a lot of outside mares that we feel have the potential to do something.”
Perhaps their top broodmare, Terrific Energy, came not from their ranch, but was purchased from the 6666 Ranch after the 2006
Ruidoso Yearling Sale. “Brian and I were living in El Paso then,” Cindy says. “Brian in particu- lar really liked her, but we didn’t really have any intention of buying anything when we went to the sale. My mother called me and asked me
if we’d seen anything. I told her about Terrific Energy and that her owners had passed on quite a bit of money, and she said, ‘If Brian likes her, then for God sakes, buy her!’ We ended up buying her. She raced well and has ended up being a good broodmare. I think she’s probably our best!”
Terrific Energy, by Mr Jess Perry and out of First Down Dash daughter First Down Energy, e e a a r r n n e e d d m mu u l lt t i ip p l l e e g g r r a a d d e e d d s s t t a a k k e e s s w w i i n n n n i i n n g g s s t t a a t t u u s s , ,
e e a a r r n n i i n n g g $ $ 1 17 74 4 , , 3 3 9 9 3 3 i i n n h h e e r r f f o o u u r r y y e e a a r r s s o o n n t t h h e e t t r r a a c c k k . . She won the Charger Bar Handicap-G1 and the Mildred Vessels Memorial Handicap-G1
in 2009 and went on to produce several good foals, including Terrific Synergy (by FDD Dynasty), a graded stakes winner who earned $307,026, and Thermonuclear Energy by Walk Thru Fire, who won both of her first two outs including her trial to the Ed Burke Futurity on June 7, 2015.
The Parsons partnership also infused
their line with PJ Flying Phoebe (Strawfly Special – Dashing Phoebe, Dash For Cash) and her daughter, PJ Phoebes Flying, by Chicks Beduino. “I can’t say enough about the Dashing Phoebe line,” Char says.
A Shift in Intensity
Presently, Parsons Ranch is home to 40-plus h o r s e s . “ To o m a n y ! ” C h a r l a u g h s . “ T h i s y e a r we have 12 babies. But not all 12 are going toward the racetrack. Two that I can think
of are going toward barrel racing, and one or two we think are going to be something else in performance.”
The partnership expects 12 babies next year, too, but Char says that soon they’ll have to consider cutting back on breeding. “We’ve got some mares who we feel have been nice mares, but not the best we can produce,” she says. “There are so many nice horses out there that we’re going to con- centrate on breeding the absolute best. We all want to raise the most absolute amazing racehorse in the world!”
The partners are excited about this year’s young runners — both those they own and those who’ve gone to other homes: 2 year
olds Thermonuclear Energy, Flyin N Dinin, Thrice Wise, Ivys Storm and Dynasty Energy
(a full brother to graded stakes winner Terrific S S y y n n e e r r g g y y ) ) ; ; a a n n d d 3 3 y y e e a a r r o o l l d d s s V Va a l l i i a a n n t t E E n n e e r r g g y y a a n n d d Energy Cartel.
Other than retiring a few broodmares, both couples plan to keep on their pres-
ent path. Jay and Char’s son John lives on
the ranch with his wife, Megan, and their daughter, Ivy, and works alongside his par- ents. Their son R.J. lives in Los Angeles, so is able to attend the races, and, working in the tech field, he also helps with the technologi- cal side of the partnership’s marketing and promotion.
Although not involved in the day-to-
day operation of the partnership, Cindy
and Brian’s daughters and their families — Jennifer Helms and her husband, Christian, and their son Hatley; and Ashley Selden and her husband, Drew, and son, Ryder — cheer on everyone else.
And that is only fitting, since horses are their legacy; horses are in their blood.
Ivys Storm
The partnership is excited about this year’s 2-year-old runners that they bred:
Flyin N Dinin
Thermonuclear Energy
Thrice Wise
Dynasty Energy