Page 102 - Speedhorse May 2019

Joe Welch trained many horses for Frank Vessels . . .
Clabber Bam, shown here after a win in 1954, raced until the age of 10, making Kit Cat Bam, shown winning her first race in 1954 at Bay Meadows, also won
202 starts with 20 wins, 22 seconds and 27 thirds.
that year’s PCQHRA California Bred Futurity.
Frank Vessels asked Joe Welch to find some mares to cross on Clabber, and one of those mares was Chicado V (pictured), who became the 1952 Co-Champion Two-Year-Old Filly.
Mr. Vessels, I gave Wort $200 profit on Do Good and he let me have her back. She went on to become a great mare.”
“I think Chicado V was the best foal she ever produced. I trained her and Senor Bill, full brother and sister, until Eddie Moreno took Chicado V to Bay Meadows after win- ning the Bardello and settin’ a new track record at Pomona.”
Welch wistfully added, “Yeah, Do Good was a nice kind of a mare.”
Of course, he didn’t just concentrate
on Quarter Horses. He had some good Thoroughbreds, including Comic Turn.
He bought Comic Turn from a vet at Santa Anita for $3,500. Comic Turn had been bred
in Ireland and had been imported to the United States. He had been priced at $25,000. However, he bowed and his career was believed through. Welch took Comic Turn and, in as fine a bit of training as could be asked, nursed him into a fine runner. Comic Turn won
for Welch at Sunland Park, Ruidoso Downs and the New Mexico Fair in Albuquerque. Previously, Comic Turn had won in England, Ireland and Africa. Cliff Lambert, who had ridden many fine horses, called Comic Turn “the greatest Thoroughbred I ever rode.” Another fine Thoroughbred under Welch’s care was King’s Kid, who won the New Mexico Futurity at Ruidoso Downs in 1966. It was worth $41,000.
A group of immortal cowboys with Teddy Roosevelt’s sister Mrs. Robertson, in New York in 1930. Left to right are Charlie Fletcher, Grady Wilson, Oral Zumalt, Elmer Hepler, Mrs. Robertson and son, Harry Drackert, No Water Slim and Joe Welch.
100 SPEEDHORSE, May 2019
LOOKING BACK - AN EXCERPT FROM MARCH 1971 ISSUE