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SPEEDLINES
horse and would you like to have him as
a stallion?’ Dad told them, ‘I’ve got no
farm to put him on,” and they mentioned Quarter Horses because he had speed. So, Dad told Henry Moreno about the horse, and he was into Quarter Horses at that time before he went to Thoroughbreds. Henry bought him for $3,000.”
This purchase led to Little Request
being used as a Quarter Horse sire. Clay continued, “I don’t know if Henry had his own place, but it seems his family had a place in Corona. Anyway, they bred some Quarter Horses that could run. He stood there for several years siring some decent horses. Then Henry sold him for $100,000. This was
six years or so after he bought the horse, selling him to Brasa Del Mar Ranch out at Escondido, California. After that, Henry got into the Thoroughbreds and he became one of the top Thoroughbred trainers.”
One report shows that Little Request was later purchased by Mickles Valley View Ranch in Arizona. This is interesting as
the Mickles were the one-time owner of Rebel Cause, out of Bankette a daughter
of Miss Bank from the famous match race. The AQHA shows the last owners of Little Request were Charles and Alice Wheeler of Gallatin, Tennessee. They bought him in 1971 and he died in 1977.
Little Request had speed, but where
did that speed come from? Let’s look at his pedigree, a pedigree that has several crosses to Domino by Himyar. But when we look at his sire line, we see that he is from the Himyar sire line but through the Kentucky Derby winner Plaudit by Himyar.
THE HIMYAR SIRE LINE
Before we delve deeper into the pedigree of Little Request, let’s look at his sire line
to Himyar. We will begin with Requested, the sire of Little Request. Requested was foaled in 1939 and was bred by Lewis J. Tuft. Requested was purchased for $1,300 by Ben Whitaker and raced for both Ben and his wife Florence. He was very successful as
a two year old, winning seven stakes races
in 1941 including the Great American
Stakes (5 1/2 furlongs), the Youthful Stakes (5 furlongs), the Tremont Stakes (5 1/2 furlongs), the Cowdin Stake (6 1/2 furlongs), the East View Stakes, the Wakefield Handicap and the Babylon Stakes. He made 16 starts at two with nine wins, four seconds and one third. He had a very good spring
in 1942, with wins in the Wood Memorial Stakes and Flamingo Stakes and then he finished 14th in the Kentucky Derby and
rebounded with a second in the Preakness Stakes that year. He made eight starts at three with two wins, two seconds and one third. His last stakes win came in the 1943 Chalmette Handicap. He made nine starts with two wins two seconds and three thirds. He went unplaced in one start at five.
Requested retired to stud and sired
288 Thoroughbred foals with 255 starters that earned $4,518,753. He was the sire of 1948 Champion Three-Year-Old Filly Miss Request and My Request, winner of 15 stakes races with earnings of $385,495, including such prestigious races as the Wood Memorial, Cowdin Stakes and Brooklyn Handicap. Requested sired three Quarter Horse starters including one ROM and one stakes winner in Rainy Season, winner of the New Mexico Stakes and Aspen Stakes in 1973. This horse was also a finalist in 18 stakes races. He raced 86 times with 17 wins, 10 seconds and 14 thirds, earning $23,485. Requested was the broodmare sire of 34 Quarter Horse and Thoroughbred starters officially listed in AQHA records with 15 earning ROM and two stakes winners. My Startime was the first stakes winner, and he was a stakes finalist in 24 stakes races winning one, placing second five times and third two times. He earned $350,220. He won the 1982 Golden State Derby and was second in the Champion
of Champions that year. He was the 1982 Champion Three-Year-Old Gelding. His
dam was a Thoroughbred daughter of Requested named Tahitian Star. The second stakes winner out of a Requested daughter was a Thoroughbred named Request Honor by Riches And Honor and his dam was the Requested daughter Plead Away. He won the 1974 Governor’s Speed Handicap and the 1976 Three Bars Handicap and was a finalist in 10 stakes, all at 870 yards.
Questionnaire is the sire of Requested. He was bred by James Butler, a grocery store magnate who also owned the Empire City Racetrack in New York. Questionnaire had 45 starts running from 1929 to 1932, winning 13 stakes races. His stakes wins include the Paumonok Handicap at 6 furlongs, the Metropolitan Handicap at
8 furlongs and the Brooklyn Handicap at
9 furlongs. He finished third in the 1930 Belmont Stakes and earned $89,611.
Questionnaire was the sire of 277 foals with 194 starters and 24 stakes winners
that earned $4,069,566. His stakes winners include Free For All, winner of Washington Park Futurity and Arlington Futurity. He was also being pointed to the Kentucky Derby, but an injury ended his racing career. Free For All is the sire of Rough N Tumble, the sire of the 1968 Horse of the Year Dr. Fager, who was also the 1967/1968 Champion Sprinter. He was one of the fastest horses
to ever set foot on the track. Free For All is the paternal great great grandsire of leading
Requested was the broodmare sire of 34 Quarter Horses, including stakes winner My Startime (shown).
SPEEDHORSE August 2022 31
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