Page 38 - Speedhorse November 2019

to Rocket Bar, and that lowered the price to $30,000. Then Kaufman’s father-in-law, O. W. Starlin, bought in for a few shares.
Rocket Bar stayed with Kaufman until Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Peckham and Mr. and Mrs. S. F. Henderson bought Kaufman’s shares in the stallion for $360,000, with Z. Wayne Griffin buying
Dr. Donovan’s shares. Rocket Bar then moved to Texas where he was syndicated in 1966 with the shareholders being Z. Wayne Griffin, Leo Winters, Jacob Bunn, Mr. and Mrs. Tom Carter, Dan Urschel, Mr. and Mrs. Bert Hall, Mr. and Mrs.
S. F. Henderson and Harriett Peckham. Rocket Bar lived the rest of his life on Peckham’s Buena Suerte Ranch that, at that time, was located at Richmond, Texas. Peckham later moved her
ranch to Roswell, New Mexico, standing
such stallions as Go Man Go, Easy Jet,
Rocket Wrangler and St Bar.
The turf writer’s statement about the
Rocket Bar pedigree being based on “speed on speed” may have been disappointing to the Thoroughbred side of the ledger. But that speed on speed is essentially a good reason he sired Quarter Horse speed.
Rocket Bar is by Three Bars and out of Golden Rocket by Cartago.
Three Bars is by Percentage and out of Myrtle Dee by Luke McLuke. He was born on April 8, 1940, in Kentucky. Myrtle Dee was purchased by Jack Goode, Ned Brent and Bill Talbot while she
was carrying Three Bars. The Goode, Brent and Talbot partnership bought three
mares for $800 from the widow of breeder Jim Parrish. Myrtle Dee was one of them and she foaled Three Bars shortly after her
arrival at Brent’s farm.
Three Bars hit the track with a burst of speed, reportedly running the quarter in just over :21. The two-year-old Three Bars had the speed,
but his success on the track was not going to be easy. He began to experience problems in one of his hind legs, which would turn ice cold after a workout. Goode reported that the problem was apparently a bloodworm infection that cut the circulation in the leg. So, the colt was sold to Beckham Stivers on the basis he would be paid for when he entered a race and won the purchase price of $300 through his winnings.
Stivers never started Three Bars, as he was unsuccessful in getting the young stallion sound, and so he gave the horse away. Vernon Cloud, a trainer and blacksmith, was the lucky recipient
of the gift horse. Cloud’s ownership apparently resulted in a cure for Three Bars’ hind leg problem. How he cured the leg is not known. So,
Rocket Bar with owner Harriett Peckham at her Buena Suerte Ranch, which also stood stallions like Go Man Go, Easy Jet, Rocket Wrangler and St. Bar.
Rocket Bar, shown here
as a yearling, was purchased by Dr. Harold Donovan for $5,000.
36 SPEEDHORSE, November 2019
SPEEDLINES