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JESS SASS ME
One of Lance’s early purchases was Holiday Handicap winner Jess Sass Me, who produced Champions Sass Me Blue and Jess Walking Thru.
Lance’s Thoroughbred accomplishments, operating as Gulf Coast Farms, included breeding Cowtown Cat (Distorted Humor-Tom’s Cat, Storm Cat), a 2007 Kentucky Derby contender whose earnings exceeded half a million dollars.
The Bailey/Robinson pinhooking partnership also sold the 2003 Thoroughbred Henny Hughes as a 2 year old for $4.3 million. “That was a highlight in our horse business because of the price we got for him, and he went on to become a successful race horse and stallion,” Lance says.
The Switch to QHs
Lance adds that he and Marla always wanted
to make a living in Utah. “We did Thoroughbreds from here, with horses in Florida for training,” he says. Added to the geography, the uncertainty of Thoroughbreds led Lance — and his partners, who included Max Anderson (Stone Canyon Quarter Horses) and Keith Nellesen (McColee Land and Livestock) — to consider Quarter Horses.
“Thoroughbreds were fun, but when it came to the economic return, there were so many variables,” Keith says. “The biggest issue was that you only got one shot. You had a mare, and if a colt came out crooked, that was that. When Lance told me he’d gotten involved in Quarter Horses, and about the idea of embryo transfer, that was a whole different gig.”
Around 2010, Lance made the switch. One of Lance and Max Anderson’s early purchases was 2018 AQHA Dam of Distinction Jess Sass Me, by Mr Jess Perry and out of Sassy Smith, by Corona Cartel. The 2004 mare produced Sass Me Blue, by Valiant Hero, and Jess Walking Thru, by Walk Thru Fire, in 2012, both of whom became Champions.
Jess Walking Thru ended 2014 as Champion 2-Year-Old Filly, having won the Dash For Cash Futurity and run third in the Los Alamitos $2 Million Futurity, then qualified for the Rainbow Derby. She earned $447,266 in two years with an 11-4-0-2 race record.
Sass Me Blue emulated her half-sister’s status, ending 2016 as Champion Aged Mare. She earned $296,378 in four years, winning her trials for the All American and the Los Alamitos $2 Million futurities, placing second in the Golden State Derby, the Los Alamitos Super Derby and the Southern California Derby. As a 4 year old, she won the Mildred N. Vessels Memorial Handicap.
Around the same time, Lance and Marla owned Allamericandreamgirl, a 2002 Strawfly Special mare out of Dashing Phoebe, by Dash For Cash. She produced the 2010 Champion 2-Year-Old Colt American Runaway, by Ocean Runaway. American Runaway won the Ruidoso Futurity-G1 and ran second in the Grade 1 Rainbow and Texas Classic futurities and earned $686,355 in two years.
Keith’s vision for McColee Land and Livestock was to start out with one mare. They purchased Lucas Racing-bred Little Surfer (First Down Dash-Runaway Wave, Runaway Winner), in 2010. She’d earned $102,749, including
a 2009 Hialeah Derby win, then went on to produce Rip Tide, by Corona Cartel, in 2013. The colt sold for $300,000.
Little Surfer also produced Uncle D, by Corona Cartel, for McColee in 2017. Uncle D earned $682,965 his freshman year, including wins in the Rainbow Futurity-G1 and the All American Juvenile Stakes, and finished the year sixth by earnings with the Champion 2 Year Old and Champion 2-Year-Old Colt titles under his girth.
McColee’s success led to another mare: Executive Looks (Executive Menace-Sticky N Picky, Sticks An Stones) in 2011. In three years on the track, the 2006 mare earned $277,891 and a 33-8-8-5 record. Her wins include the Manor Downs Futurity-G1, the La Villita Stakes at Sam Houston and the Classic Chevrolet Heartbeat of America Handicap-G3 at Lone Star Park, and she also qualified for the Dash For Cash Futurity-G1 along with several other graded stakes.
In 2015, Executive Looks produced the Corona Cartel colt KVN Corona, who won the Ed Burke Million Futurity, the PCQHRA Breeders Futurity-G2, and qualified for the Los Alamitos $2 Million Futurity his freshman year. He went on in 2018 to win the El Primero Del Ano Derby-G3 and qualify for the Ruidoso Derby-G1. He finished both years as Champion in his age group, winning $868,077 with a 77 percent win and 85 percent win/place record. He now stands at the Lazy E Ranch in Guthrie, Oklahoma.
The Pink Buckle
Lance’s lifelong love for rodeo led him to launch the Pink Buckle barrel racing stallion incentive and regional event series in 2018. “There are a lot of barrel races around here and we have some barrel horses,” Marla says. “Lance and Chad Beus started talking about how they could put on the biggest barrel race, and the Pink Buckle came to be.” Lance’s son Trevor is also involved in the Pink Buckle.
Limited to the offspring of 50 enrolled stallions, the Pink Buckle Barrel Futurity and Open 4-D guarantees a $2 million purse, plus a $100,000 Futurity Sale Graduate incentive, and is set to run Oct. 6–11 at the Lazy E Arena.
38 SPEEDHORSE May 2020