Page 102 - 12 April 2013

American Quarter Horse
HAll
of
FAME
courtesy AQHA
Ten legends were inducted into the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame on March 10. The ten honorees – five men and five horses – joined the 144 people and 89 horses already in the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame.
The inductees were honored at the 2013 American Quarter Horse Association Convention in Houston. The men who were honored are: Bill Brewer of Amarillo, Texas; Kenny Hart of Ruidoso Downs, New Mexico; Frank Merrill of Purcell, Oklahoma; the late Guy Ray Rutland of Independence, Kansas; and Greg Whalen of Clements, California.
The horses were: Fillinic, Freckles Playboy, lady Bug’s Moon, Miss Olene and Poco Tivio.
Induction into the Hall of Fame is one of the highest honors available within the American Quarter Horse community, and it is reserved to those who have made an exceptional contribution to the American Quarter Horse.
Bill Brewer
Bill Brewer of Amarillo, Texas,
was the executive vice president for AQHA from 1992
to 2009. During his tenure as executive vice president, the Association registered its 5 millionth
horse and grew to a membership high of more than 350,000. In
a career with AQHA that lasted nearly 40 years, Brewer’s legacy was one of improved customer service, efficiency and member benefits.
Kenny Hart
Kenny Hart of Ruidoso Downs, New Mexico, was a winning jockey of American Quarter Horse racehorses for 35 years. He rode his first match race in 1962, and in 1977, he became the first jockey to exceed $1 million in annual earnings. In 1985, Hart was the AQHA
champion jockey, as well as the leading jockey by money earned and by races won. In 1979, 1981-83 and 1985, he was the leading jockey
by races won. Hart now serves as a steward at Ruidoso Downs, where he has been inducted into the track’s hall of fame.
FranK Merrill
Frank Merrill of Purcell, Oklahoma, co-founded Windward Stud, a stallion station and breeding operation that bred more than 25,000 mares and stood 92 stallions at different times. Merrill joined the AQHA Board
of Directors in 1980 and was appointed to the AQHA Executive
Committee in 2003. He served as AQHA president in 2007-08. Frank and his wife, Robin, are also known for their ongoing involvement in cutting.
Friends & family of the late Guy Ray Rutland
Guy ray rutland
The late Guy Ray Rutland of Independence, Kansas, was a leading breeder of racehorses. The rancher and his wife, Mildred, bred the earners of more than $1.9 million in American Quarter Horse racing. Among the horses they bred were Pacific Dan, the 1974 champion racing 3-year- old gelding who set six track records, and his sire, Pacific Bailey, one of the leading sires of racing Register of Merit earners in the 1970s and 1980s. In 1967 and from 1970 to 1977, Rutland was the top breeder of winning racehorses.
GreG wHalen
Greg Whalen of
Clements, California,
is a longtime breeder
and world champion
exhibitor of American
Quarter Horses.
His first world
championship was in
1974 with Opie’s Pride
at the first AQHA
World Championship
Show. Whalen was
an AQHA judge for
14 years and began breeding American Quarter Horses in 1962. He and his wife, Mary, have bred foals earning 7,821 halter points and 700.5 performance points in all divisions, with more than $210,000 in AQHA Incentive Fund earnings. Whalen was also known for training amateur and youth competitors to the top and for mentoring young trainers.
100 SPEEDHORSE, April 12, 2013
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