Page 58 - 30 March 2012

Time: 1942 Setting: Hacienda Moltacqua In The Gates: Red Man
by Nelson C. Nye From Speedhorse, April 1974 Issue
Going way back into the beginning of Joe Jr, Cyclone, Cowboy, Red Racer, Pay Dirt, (1945) shows Red Man credited with going
Quarter racing history on an organized
scale, Melville Haskell in the first yearbook published by the newly organized American Quarter Racing Association (1943) declared: “We think it safe to say that the
top horse of the past few years, about which
we have accurate information, probably ran about as fast as horses ever did. Shue Fly has been World’s Champion for two years and her track record at Moltacqua—:22.3/5 from a flat footed start—will probably stand for some time. Started behind the line and timed from a flag she was credited with :21 4/5 at Albuquerque in 1942. At least three Thoroughbreds have made that time under the same conditions—Atoel, Air Flame and Galley Slave; official time for
the first quarter of their World’s Record 3/8’s at Santa Anita, California.”
I note that this coincides with opinions formed by your correspondent with regard to times hung up by current sprinters as compared with some of the greats among long-gone, old- timey horses.
During the first three years of racing at Tucson’s Hacienda Moltacqua track, 100 Quarter Running Horses competed. From these 100, 20 were chosen to be known as Celebrated American Quarter Running Horses on the factual basis of conditions and times established. Those 20 were Shue Fly, Clabber, Joe Reed II, Red Man, Alex The Great, Nobodies Friend, Painted Joe, Arizona Girl, Blueberry Hill, Don Manners, Chicaro, Little
Domino, Bartender, Prissy and Sugar Foot. It may be interesting to learn what times
were made by the top six:
220 yards carrying 150 pounds in :12.6. He had what it took and unstintedly passed along his best qualities: his amazing speed, power and ability to pack weight. From very ordinary mares he put quite a number of straightaway runners smack into the Register of Merit. A few of these which I still recall are Lilly Belle, who won her first race under 125 when only 11 months old and still sucking, and at 16 months was plain greased lightning; Wampus Kitty, High Gear, Step In, the very good Worryman, John Red, Red Dan, Bunkie, Red Juniper, Wac Chaser, Victory, Miss Atomic, etc.
Today, with money and promotion behind him, Red Man—who certainly made the dust fly—might have gone powerfully near to the top as a progenitor of straightaway sprinters. He had what it took and could pass it along in sufficient percentages to get track runners from plain cowhorse mares.
Red Man ran well at any distance. How well may never be determined, but the evidence is there in the light of track conditions, surfaces and the electric timer currently used to eliminate guesswork and human errors of clocking. Red Man’s record, from an average of three watches, established in 1941 or ’42 at Moltacqua—a hor- rowed strip scraped out of the desert—of :12.6 under 150 pounds for 220 yards, was not much lowered until Tonta Gal (mother of Tonto Bars Gill) hung up a mark of :12.1 for that distance under 120 in 1946. And she ran it at Rillito on a much improved surface.
Horse
220 350 440 660
Shue Fly
Clabber
Joe Reed II
Red Man
Alex The Great Nobodies Friend :13.0
:18 2/5
:18 2/5 :19 2/5
:13.0 :12 4/5 :13.0 :12 3/5 :13.0
:22 3/5 :22 4/5 :22 4/5
:22 4/5 :22 4/5
:33.0
But, we’re here to say a few words about Red Man. The photo shows Red Man (nearest camera) and Cyclone battling to a dead heat at 350-yards at Hacienda Moltacqua. Track was just a flat place scraped in the desert. Time :18.3. Behind Red Man and Cyclone came Arizona Girl and Clabber. Red Man held two track records—220 under 150 pounds in :12 3/5 and 350 packing 123 in :18.3.
Red Man was a horse of tremendous power. He measured 27” around the forearm with stifle and gaskin in proportion. He was a hard horse to beat from the gate. He finished third to Shue Fly and Clabber in the 1973 World’s Championship Quarter, beaten one-half length.
He was sired by Joe Hancock whose father was John Wilkens (by Peter McCue). The owner of Red Man was a cowboy, Kenneth Gunter of Benson, Arizona, where he stood the horse for many years.
A chart in of The Quarter Running Horse
56 SPEEDHORSE, March 30, 2012
Red Man battles Cyclone (inside) to a dead heat at Hacienda Moltacqua.