Page 35 - May 2021

Mel Potter, the owner of PC Frenchmans Hayday, told me the following about Joe Bassett and his ties to Driftwood and Super Charge, a horse he trained for the track. Mel stated, “A lot of people don’t realize about that speed. Joe Bassett was a darn good roper and a heck of a racehorse guy. He had Super Charge and he had ridden Driftwood in the old match ropings. Both of those horses were running son of a guns.”
Mel later added this, “People don’t think about speed when they talk about Driftwood Ike, but he sired several racehorses including Nifty Ike. This gelding was a stakes winner in the Prescott Downs Derby and was a track record setter at Prescott Downs for 330 yards that stood for many years.” He was
a team roping horse that earned points in heading as well.
The dam of Josephine El is Webb’s Demon, another AA rated race mare for Joe Bassett. She is sired by Sonny Chicaro Joe, a son of Chicaro. The dam of Webb’s Demon is Quarter Queen by Old Poco Bueno, the broodmare sire of the AQHA registered Poco Bueno. Quarter Queen is out of an Uncle Jimmie Gray mare. Uncle Jimmie Gray is sired by Bonnie Joe, the sire of Joe Blair, the sprinting Thoroughbred that sired Joe Reed P-3 and Useeit, the dam of Black Gold that won the 1924 Kentucky Derby.
Casey’s Charm is the dam of PC Frenchmans Hayday and she is sired by Tiny Circus, an AQHA ROM runner that was Top AAA. Tiny Circus is the 1979 AQHA Reserve World Champion Heading Horse. The sire of Tiny Circus is Tiny Watch, the 1965 Champion Stallion and Aged Stallion and the 1966 Co-Champion Stallion and Aged Stallion. The sire of Tiny Watch is the Thoroughbred Anchor Watch. The dam of Tiny Watch is Clabber Tiny by Clabber II, and she is out of the Thoroughbred mare Tiny Iny. Tiny Watch is the half-brother to Tiny Charger we found in the pedigree of Royal Quick Dash. The dam of Tiny Circus is Circus Bars, a AAA rated runner sired by Willow Bars by Three Bars. Her dam is Honey III by City Slicker.
a speed index of 82. This mare is the dam of Frenchmans Jet, winner of the Central Stakes Fair Derby and the South Dakota Derby. Frenchmans Jet is the dam of French Moon
Jet, who was stakes placed in the South Dakota Bred Futurity. Frenchmans Leige, who is out of Frenchman’s Luck, was a stakes placed runner in the Aberdeen Futurity. Another ROM earner out of Frenchman’s Luck was Frenchmans Gojet with a speed index of 91 and the dam of Go Lord Jet with a 91 speed index.
Dillon Mundorf was originally interested in breeding roping and bulldogging horses. So, when he bred Royal Sissy Irish to Dinero (producing DM Sissy Hayday), it may have been based on Dinero’s roping ability. Dinero was sent to Kenneth Kelly for rope horse training. Mel Potter recently confirmed that Dinero could have been a top tie-down roping horse, but he wanted a team roping horse.
Mundorf recounted this about his breeding to Dinero, “I took my grandfather to the Rodeo Hall of Fame Ceremonies in Oklahoma City and Mel Potter was there and we got to talking about Dinero. I worked for Kenneth Kelly when he trained the horse and had ridden Dinero. Mel and I talked about it and he offered me a deal. So, I bred three mares to him.”
I guess the barrel racing industry is lucky that Hailey Kinsel found Baja and that took her to Sister, the all-time leading barrel racing money earner.
The dam of Caseys Charm is Casey’s Ladylove by Casey’s Poco by Poco Dun, a son of cutting horse Poco Bueno. Miss Casey is the dam of Casey’s Poco and her sire is Tadpole by Red Dog. Her dam is Nedra
by Red Dog. Red Dog is a sire for Jack Casement of Colorado. The dam of Casey’s Ladylove is Lady Diane by Mc Rusty by
Joe Tom Mc. Lady Diane is out of Chigger Barnes by Joe Tom Mc, who is sired by the racehorse Joe Hancock.
Casey’s Ladylove was a show mare that produced some pretty good runners despite her performance pedigree. Her foal Frenchman’s Bars was officially AA on the track. She is the dam of two ROM runners in Frenchman’s
Girl and Frenchman’s Mack. Frenchman’s
Fox, a daughter of Casey’s Ladylove, earned
a 90 speed index and was the winner of the South Dakota Bred Derby. She was the first two year old to run a AAA rating on a track in South Dakota. The AAA rating today is a 90 speed index or over. Frenchman’s Luck, out of Casey’s Ladylove, was an AA race mare with
SPEEDLINES
“People don’t think about speed when they talk about Driftwood Ike, but he sired several racehorses including Nifty Ike. This gelding was a stakes winner in the Prescott Downs Derby and a track record setter at Prescott Downs for 330 yards that stood for many years.”
– Mel Potter
I guess the barrel racing industry is lucky that Hailey Kinsel found Baja and that took her to Sister, the all-time leading barrel racing money earner.
Mel Potter, owner of PC Frenchman’s Hayday, aboard MP Thriftwood, “Winston”
SPEEDHORSE May 2021 33
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