Page 40 - April 2016

A significant feat during his time, Three Bars sired three million dollar sires: Three Chicks, St Bar and Rocket Bar TB – all three themselves sires of AQHA Racing Champions.
Three Chicks, the sire of Champion Chick Called Sue, established a line of million dollar sires in Three Ohs and Chicks Deck.
It appears that the Three Bars sire line is holding its own through the Dash For Cash branch of the sire line.
Te TB, Zevi TB, Hempen TB, Raise A Secret, Master Hand TB and Special Effort. But, when we look at the million dollar sires and the sire lines they represent, we see that the great stallions Three Bars and Top Deck are the sire lines that have dominated the industry. This time around, we will focus on Three Bars and how he has continued to influence the modern racing Quarter Horse through his sire line.
Three Bars also represents the Darley Arabian sire line. Three Bars traces like so many to Whalebone, then to Eclipse and on to the Darley Arabian through Hermit. Hermit was sired by Newminister by Touchstone by Camel by Whalebone.
Hermit was a successful racehorse, winning eight of his 20 starts including
the Epsom Derby. He was the leading sire
in England from 1880 to 1886. He sired several English Classic winners, including
St. Marguerite (One Thousand Guineas), Thebais (One Thousand Guineas), Lonely (the Oak Stakes), Shot Over (One Thousand Guineas), and St Blaise (Epsom Derby).
Hermit was the sire of Friar’s Balsam, who was undefeated as a two year old and who counted the Champion Stakes among his wins. Friar’s Balsam sired Voter, the next horse in this sire line. Voter was imported into the United States by James R. Keene, who with his son Foxhall Keene stood the great Domino. It was Domino, through his foals, that became an important source of speed in both the Thoroughbred and the Quarter Horse.
An added note: Top Deck was a sire
line descendant of Domino. His sire was Equestrian by Equipoise. Equipoise was sired by Pennant by Peter Pan, who was sired by Commando by Domino.
Voter raced from two to seven years of age. He won eight stakes races, including the Metropolitan Handicap and Toboggan Handicap. He was the 1899 U.S. Champion Male Handicap Horse. He ran second in
the 1901 Fall Handicap at Sheepshead Bay carrying 140 pounds, which was 21 pounds more than any other horse in the race.
Voter would sire Ballot, who was bred
and owned by James R. Keene. Ballot was the winner of $154,545 with 20 wins in 37 starts. He raced from two to six with wins in 19 stakes races, including the Suburban Handicap.
Ballot would sire Midway, who was bred by the Clay Brothers and owned by Jim Parrish of Midway, Kentucky. Midway raced from the age of three to five with six stakes wins, including the Clark Handicap. He was also third in the 1917 Kentucky Derby.
Midway was the sire of Percentage, who was bred by Jim Parrish. Percentage would become a multiple stakes winner, including the Cincinnati Trophy and the Pontchartrain Handicap. He raced from two to eight with 87 starts, 19 wins, 22 seconds, and 18 thirds. Percentage was the sire of Three Bars.
Three Bars came on the Quarter Horse scene in the late 1940’s after a journey that took him from his birthplace in Kentucky to the Southwest. He was bred by Jim Parrish, who died just before Three Bars was born. The dam of Three Bars was Myrtle Dee, who was purchased by Jim Goode, Ned Brent and Bill Talbot.
When Myrtle Dee foaled a colt, he was christened Three Bars because they thought they had hit the slot machine jackpot.
Three Bars didn’t disappoint, as Jim Goode confirmed in Bob Gray’s biography “The Three Bars Story” that appeared in the Horseman
St Bar is the sire of Champions Little Blue Sheep, Power Train, and Vespero.
Rocket Bar, the sire of Mr Tinky Bar, Nug Rock, Osage Rocket, Rocket Wrangler, and Top Rockette, carried the banner of Three Bars’ dominance into today’s breeding industry.
38 SPEEDHORSE, April 2016
SPEEDLINES