Page 47 - Speedhorse, December 2018

$2 million sire Red Storm Cat QH, by Mr Jess Perry and out of Tiny Dash Of Cash by Dash For Cash, is the sire of Admiral Tom.
with earnings of $266,238.36. He is in the ApHC Hall of Fame.
Some Kinda Easy is by Easy We Go by Easy Jet and out of We Go Charge. This gives Some Kinda Easy a breeding pattern of 2x3 to We Go Charge, a fitting example of “inbreeding to a superior female.”
The 1983 foal of Kinda Nice We Go is Geneo JJ by Jim J TB who earned $69,205 while winning the 1985 Western States Futurity and the 1987 Vallejo Stakes. He was named
the 1986 Champion 3-Year-Old Colt and
1987 Champion 4-Year-Old and Older Colt. Geneo JJ went on to become the Appaloosa All-Time Leading Sire of Money earners with over $3 million in earners. Forty One JJ, an example of the runners by Geneo JJ, was the 1994 Champion 3-Year-Old Colt and the 1995 Champion 4-Year-Old and Older Colt. He is the winner of the 1995 California Coast To Coast Stakes and is also a leading sire in the ApHC.
THE VAUGHAN BREEDING PROGRAM
Over the years, Admiral Tom, Breeder/ Owner Gary Vaughan has met many horsemen. “Walter Merrick has been one
of my all-time role models. In my opinion, Walter Merrick was probably the greatest breeder of all time. He introduced Three Bars to those Leo mares way back when the AQHA didn’t want any part of the Thoroughbreds. But Walter cracked the barrier and made history and I have always admired him.
“I went out to visit him one time and I bred to Easy Jet one year and we had a good visit. He said everybody has what they can afford to breed to, but some special words of advice to me were ‘always breed to a racehorse, breed to a runner.’ He was right.”
Vaughan talked about the role of the broodmare. “I’m a broodmare man. I believe that 80-85% of the foal comes from the mare. You’ve got to have a good mare. I don’t care if you’re runnin’ Paints, Appaloosas or Quarter Horses, your mare power is where it is at. Some are blue hen producers and some are not, but you look at people like Bobby Cox, Jerry Windham and Julianna Hawn Holt who have those good Quarter mares with some good mare power in their programs, and I feel I have some mare power in my Appaloosa mares.”
Vaughan spoke of his philosophy on stallions. “I try to breed to good studs and I try to match my pedigrees up to get them to click. Look at Tesio the Thoroughbred breeder. He believed if you get that one great horse several times in an 8 generation pedigree, that is what makes it work.
“You have to have a foundation to start with. It has changed in the last 50 years and you have to breed up. It is always changing with bloodlines and if you are
8 generations, the most of any stallion. Top Deck shows up six times in the 8 generations. We find this type of influence in many horses today, but then we see that a major part of this influence comes through Rocket Wrangler, a grandson of Three Bars and a great grandson of Top Deck, providing a reliable source of the Three Bars/Top Deck nick.
When we look at Panda Doll, a half- sister to Admiral Tom, we get a similar breeding pattern as her sire Real Vision
is by Streakin La Jolla the sire of Mr Jess Perry. The dam of Real Vision is Vision of Dash by Dash For Cash by Rocket Wrangler. This gives her pedigree a 4x4x3 breeding pattern to Rocket Wrangler and outcrossed on the Top Deck sire line.
“I have an Apollitical Blood and a One Famous Eagle out of Eyesa Knockout.” Vaughan concluded. “I really like that blood out of that bloodline. At this point, I want to stay with Mr Jess Perry on the top.” Sounds like a good plan to me, as both of these stallions give him a similar breeding pattern to Admiral Tom, our 2018 Speedhorse Paint & Appaloosa Triple Crown Hi-Point Champion.
going to sell marketable colts, you have to stay fashionable. You’ve still got to have good colts.”
When asked about Red Storm Cat, the sire of Admiral Tom, he replied, “He went back to Top Deck through Mr Jess Perry and Mr Jess Perry has been a pretty good nick on Mr Eye Opener and the mares I have. I’m
a fan of Mr Eye Opener. He is a heckuva broodmare sire and that is another reason why I picked Eyesa Knockout because I thought she would make a great Appaloosa mare. She will be in the Hall of Fame this year. My third mare in the Hall of Fame.”
It has to be noted that Admiral Tom and his full brother Major Tom are the only two Appaloosa foals by Red Storm Cat to race, earning $327,158. They also carry a breeding pattern of 4x4x3 to Rocket Wrangler, the sire of Dash For Cash, giving these two runners multiple crosses to this great stallion. This fits the pattern that Vaughan referred to about the great breeder Frederico Tesio in how great stallions influence the pedigree. When we drop back and take a look at the stallions that influence Admiral Tom’s pedigree, we find that he has nine crosses to Three Bars in
“He has a lot of heart and comes out of the gate hard, he is just a good, good solid horse. He’s a runner.”
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