Page 91 - June 2016

Branching Into Barrels
By the mid-80s, Sonny had become good friends with Jackie Spencer, who married
into the family of Wall Street Journal founder Clarence Barron. Each year, Jackie would buy the high-selling yearling at the Ruidoso Sale, and in 1988, one Dash For Cash stud colt out of Champion producer Perks, by Easy Jet, caught Sonny’s eye.
“Sonny asked Jackie to give him first chance at buying Dash For Perks when she’d finished
Dash For Perks, who has been a great asset to Weetona’s breeding program, is the third leading sire of the decade for barrel horse money earners.
running him,” says Weetona. “Perks was a great asset to our program and is presently the third leading sire of the decade for barrel-horse money earners. Though he’s deceased, we have frozen semen that’s handled by Texas A&M and the intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) program overseen by Dr. Rick Beck in [Hemet] California.”
Along with Dash For Perks, Ladybug Stallion Station also stands Spit Curl Jess at the Louisiana Center for Equine Reproduction in Opelousas.
Along with Dash For Perks, Ladybug Stallion Station also stands Champion sire Spit Curl Jess at the Louisiana Center for Equine Reproduction.
Family Life
The Stanleys purchased a home in Ruidoso in 1974 and loved spending time there in the summers. “Losing Sonny to cancer makes those memories in Ruidoso even more special,” says Weetona. “We still have our home there but at 89, it’s difficult for me to make that trip. But, Fred spends several weeks a year there to take care of our horse activities.”
David Smith fondly recalls times spent with
the Stanleys in Madill at the family ranch and the stallion station, and at Ruidoso. “Weetona’s always been the most beautiful woman you’ve ever seen, and she’s been the glue that kept them all together,” he says. “She loved her boys. They’d all go out there for lunch every day at the ranch. I bet you everything she still fixes lunch for them every day! My interest in horseracing comes from her and the family.”
“I’ve had a great life and wouldn’t change a thing,” Weetona says. “It’s tough making your entire living with racehorses. But, while we’ve had our hands on some big runners and top stallions, it’s our broodmares that have kept us in business. I’m now in my 51st year breeding racehorses. It’s been a challenge, especially without my husband. But, I feel so very fortunate that I’ve had the chance to work with my three sons in this business. They’re all still very much a part of the day-to-day operations, and all live within two miles of me. I feel truly blessed to have my family close.
“I don’t know what the Lord has planned, but the Stanley family breeding program plans to be around for a long time,” she continues. “We have 44 yearlings and 45 foals presently and I’m expecting about the same number to be born next year.
When I’m home at the ranch, just a mile from the stallion station, I look out my window and see all those beautiful foals with their dams in the pasture. I wonder, is that one the next All American winner?”
If the effort and care that Weetona Stanley and her family have put into the past 50 years is any indication, it’s likely that one of those foals out in the pasture could be that next All American winner.
“We were our own work force and needed very little outside labor,” Weetona says. “I don’t know how we would’ve survived the ups and downs of the horse business any other way because we had very little money. Everything we own today we owe to our horses and hard work.”
Owner Weetona (second from left) with family members and friends in the winner’s circle after Fast First Prize won the 2002 Heritage Place Futurity-G1.
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