Page 44 - January 2021

SPEEDLINES
Midnight Jr is by Midnight by Badger by Peter McCue. Midnight was out of Nellie Trammel by Ace by Peter McCue and out of a mare by Pid Hart. Salty was sired by Billy The Tough by A. D. Reed by Peter McCue. Billy The Tough was out of Betsy by Peter McCue. This gives Midnight Jr a breeding pattern of 3x4x4x4 to Peter McCue.
Merrick used Midnight Jr for a number of years and then he had an offer from
H. Bissel and Midnight Jr went to New Mexico, where he met up with the mare Myrna Loy. Myrna Loy was bred by Joe Pankey, who at one time lived in Texas and moved to New Mexico. She was registered by Bissel in 1944, the year after her daughter Belle Of Midnight was born.
The first foal out of Myrna Loy was Ascalon by Nassak. This horse, born in 1942, has no race record. Quarter To Midnight was born in 1946. He is by Midnight Jr as were the next two foals out of Myrna Loy. The next one was Brown Mike, born in 1948. He earned a performance ROM. The last one was Thin Man, and he was officially raced seven times with one third and he had an A rating on the track.
The sire of Myrna Loy was Pankey’s Lucky, who is by Apache Kid by Guinea Pig by Possum by Traveler. The dam of Pankey’s Lucky is a mare by Fuzzy by Three Fingers Jack by Traveler. Fuzzy is out of
a Gardner Mare by Traveler. The dam of
Myrna Loy is a mare by Scott by Yellow Jacket, and she is out of a Parke Mare, breeding unknown.
Barred is out of Ready, who is out of Ruby by Red Cloud by Possum by Traveler. Red Cloud is out of Rita Del by Bulger by Traveler. This gives Miss Night Bar a blood affinity between her sire and dam. We have often seen how the blood affinities appear in some of our successful nicks.
The AQHA records show that the
Scott Mare, the dam of Myrna Loy, has 42 registered foals. This is a common problem when you look up the computer records for mares like this where there will be several mares with the same name, but they are
not registered. So, their foals all get lumped together. The AQHA records show that Pankey’s Lucky sired 21 foals in 1934 and 1935, the two years that Myrna Loy and Puzzle were foaled. The AQHA Stud Book shows that all of these mares were bred by Pankey and registered by Bissel. So, we really don’t know which one could be a full sister to Myrna Loy. We have looked into this to see if Myrna Loy and Puzzle were full sisters. Myrna Loy was foaled in 1935 and Puzzle was foaled in 1934. Both are out of a Scott Mare but which one is unknown. So, I guess the best we can do is determine that they were at least 3/4-sisters or possibly full sisters in blood, which means their dams were full sisters.
Now back to Jet Deck and his race career. He was bought by J. B. Chambers,
a Colorado horseman. But Jet Deck
didn’t appear to be headed to a World Championship. This is indicated in a statement made by Bud Warren, the
owner of Leo and Sugar Bars. Warren had raced such noted runners as Leota W and his famous mare Flit, both daughters of Leo, with a great deal of success. Warren commented to Chambers, “If that’s
a racehorse, then I’m gonna quit the business!” Warren saw “a thin-necked, pot- bellied bay colt” and couldn’t believe he was going to be a racehorse.
Wilbur Stuchal became his trainer
and Jet Deck proved Warren wrong, making 15 starts at two with 11 wins,
one second and two thirds earning $138,342. His earnings record for 1962 was a record amount for an American Quarter Horse, making him the all-time leading money earner. He won five stakes races at two tracks, including the Juvenile Championship, the PCQHRA California Bred Futurity, the Los Alamitos Futurity and the Kindergarten Futurity at Los Alamitos Race Course. His fifth stakes win came in the Arizona Downs Juvenile Championship at Arizona Downs. He was also third in the Ruidoso Futurity. He was named the 1962 Champion Stallion and the Champion 2-Year-Old Colt.
Midnight Jr was a foundation sire for Merrick, who bred the great Easy Jet by Jet Deck and many more.
42 SPEEDHORSE January 2021
The Corralitos Ranch was home to two stallions, including a Quarter Horse named Midnight Jr, who was purchased from Walter Merrick (shown with Easy Jet).