Page 52 - December 2020

J.E. started looking for a Thoroughbred stud that could be successful with both Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses and in 1984 bought Louisiana Slew (above) and after his racing career, bred him to Little Blue Sheep, producing The Louisiana Girl (below right) who is the dam of Champion Jess Louisiana Blue (below left).
THE THOROUGHBRED INFLUENCE
Several years before the Black Monday crash of October 1987, and cognizant of
the Thoroughbred’s influence in Quarter Horse racing, J.E. started looking for a Thoroughbred stud that could be successful with both Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses. In 1984 he bought the Seattle Slew yearling son Louisiana Slew and after his racing career, bred him to Little Blue Sheep, producing The Louisiana Girl.
Graded stakes placed The Louisiana
Girl went on to produce one of Jumonville Farms’ most accomplished sires, Champion Aged Stallion Jess Louisiana Blue, by Mr Jess Perry, in 1998. Jess Louisiana Blue achieved Graded stakes winning status with a win in the East Championship Challenge-G2 at Delta Downs, and a second in the AQHA Challenge Championship-G1. He also finished third in the First Down Dash Handicap-G3, the Mr Jess Perry Louisiana Downs Stakes and the Louisiana Champions Day Classic Stakes-G2 at Fair Grounds.
As a sire, Jess Louisiana Blue sired 437 winners with 1,108 wins. Fifty-one stakes winners have earned 85 stakes wins. His get have earned 491 Registers of Merit, 22 Superior Race Awards and 11 Regional Championships. His leading money earner is Jessa Louisiana Zoom, with $637,591.
Also, in 1998, J.E.’s Truckle Feature mare, Brenda Feature, produced the Mr Jess Perry son Feature Mr Jess, who went on to multiple Graded stakes winner status, earning $539,327 in just two years racing. He ended 2000 fourth by earnings, winning the Rainbow Futurity-G1 and running second in the Dash For Cash Futurity-G1. At 2, he won the Rainbow Derby-G1 and his trial for the All American Derby, finishing the Grade 1 final third. Jumonville Farms sold half interest in Feature Mr Jess to Jim Helzer of JEH Stallion Station in Texas, where the stallion stood until his death at age 10.
Feature Mr Jess has sired 439 winners with 1,244 wins, and 71 stakes winners with 146 stakes wins. His get has compiled 531 Registers of Merit, 51 Superior Race Awards, and 10 Regional Championships. Heartswideopen
is his leading money earner with $1,885,283 including winning the All American Futurity in 2007 and returning to run second in The All American Derby in 2008.
Jumonville Farms claims the unique accomplishment of having not one but two stallions that have sired offspring with earnings exceeding $20 million: $20,762,559 for Jess Louisiana Blue and $24,933,420 for Feature Mr Jess. “They were wonderful for us,” J.E. says. “They kept this farm going for 20 years. And the most amazing thing to us is that this all happened with the farm having only 10-12 mares per year.”
50 SPEEDHORSE December 2020