Page 40 - August_2023

SPEEDLINES
AQHA Hall of Fame horse Grey Badger II was sired by Midnight Jr and purchased by Walter Merrick as a yearling.
38 SPEEDHORSE August 2023
Midnight Jr traces back to Steel Dust (pictured).
starters. His leading earner was Grey Badger II, an AQHA Hall of Fame member. Some of his other ROM runners were Diamond H and Toughie Night. Diamond H was out of Delight by Pankey’s Lucky, and Toughie Night was out of Charlene by a remount stallion Charlesbury and she was out of a S. B. Burnett Ranch bred mare.
As a broodmare sire, Midnight Jr had
his daughters produce 44 ROM runners
with two stakes winners and seven stakes placed winners. The first stakes winner out
of a daughter of Midnight Jr was Mona Leta by Leo. She was the winner of the 1951 Oklahoma Futurity and the Rocky Mountain QHA Futurity. She won the Oklahoma QH Exhibitor’s Derby and the Rocky Mountain QHA Derby in 1952, giving her double wins in these two important stakes races of this era. She was the 1952 Co-Champion Three- Year-Old Filly. Bob’s Folly by Three Bars
was the second stakes winner with 12 stakes wins including the Rocky Mountain QHA Futurity, Rocky Mountain QHA Derby
and the New Mexico State Fair Derby. The interesting part of this is that he never won
a championship and one reason for that is that he raced during the great Go Man Go’s time on the track. One of the stakes placed runners was Johnny Do It by Leo. He was third in the 1957 Kansas Futurity and the
Rocky Mountain QHA Futurity. All three of these runners were out of Midnight Jr’s daughter Hot Heels bred by Walter Merrick. The dam of Hot Heels was Joan, a daughter of Joe Hancock, and two of these runners draw attention to Leo and his nick with mares carrying the blood of Joe Hancock.
Midnight Jr was sired by Midnight by Badger by Peter McCue. Midnight was out of Nellie Trammell by Pid Hart. The dam of Midnight Jr was Salty by Billy The Tough by A D Reed by Peter McCue. The dam of Billy The Tough was Betsy by Peter McCue. Salty was out of Peachie by Joy. The sire of Joy
was Jeff C and Joy was out of Lou Trammel by Peter McCue. This gives Midnight Jr a breeding pattern of 3x4x4x5 to Peter McCue. The dam of Peachie was Perfect Doll by Pid Hart. This gives Midnight Jr a breeding pattern of 3x4 to Pid Hart, a Steel Dust and Shiloh bred horse. Old Billy was sired by Shiloh and out of Ram Cat by Steel Dust. This is the blood that helped form the South Texas horses with many of them carrying the blood of Old Billy and Peter McCue, who is a sire line descendant of Old Billy.
Myrna Loy, the dam of Belle Of Midnight, was bred by Joe Pankey of Hot Springs, New Mexico, and she was one of several mares bought by H. S. Bissel. Myrna Loy was the dam of 12 foals that were
registered with one starter in Thin Man,
who ran what is now a 75-speed index or an “A” rating on the track. He had one third in seven starts. He was a full brother to Belle Of Midnight, who was unraced.
The sire of Myrna Loy was Pankeys Lucky by Apache Kid by Ginea Pig. Ginea Pig was sired by Possum, a full brother to Little Joe. Possum and Little Joe were sired by Traveler and out of Jenny, an Old Billy bred mare. The dam of Myrna Loy was a mare by Scott, who is listed as sired by Scott by Yellow Jacket. Yellow Jacket was sired by Little Rondo by Locks Rondo, and Yellow Jacket was out of Barbee Dun by Locks Rondo. Locks Rondo was sired by Whalebone by Old Billy, and this gives the pedigree another shot of Old Billy.
James V. A. Carter made his trip to New Mexico in 1944, and in 1946 he put the next ingredient in his breeding program.
He bought Barred from Melville Haskell for $4,000, a lot of money at this point in time. Barred was an AAA rated durable runner that had 42 starts with 16 wins, 13 seconds and 4 thirds earning $9,229.99. He was a stakes finalist in the Arizona Derby in 1949 and a finalist in the Barbra B Handicap.
His sire record shows 54 racing ROM with four stakes winners. He sired such stakes horses as Rock Bar, a finalist in 15 stakes races with four stakes wins including the 1960 PCQHRA Futurity and the PCQHA California Bred Futurity; and Barred’s Quest, winner of 1964 Vandy’s Flash.
Barred is the broodmare sire of runners that have earned $1,300,435 with 169 ROM and 23 stakes winners. His stakes winners include Hoodwink, winner of three stakes races including the Arizona Downs Championship; Miss Cue Deck, winner of two stakes including the Tri-State Derby; Tom Lydon, winner of the Lafayette Derby; and Black Barred, winner of Yakima Meadows Maturity. Black Barred was out of Miss Capri Bar, a daughter not only of
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