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4-time Champion Come Six, a gelding from Azure Te’s first crop of foals, set a world record of :21.47 winning the Rocky Mountain Quarter Horse Assoc. Derby. He retired with gross earnings of $345,300.
the syndicate members, the two shook hands and the discussion ended.
The lease of Azure Te was actually acquired in the name of the Estate of S.B. Burnett. Jay Pumphrey, as trustee and General Manager of
that estate, along with Ted Wells
and Mrs. Anne Burnett Tandy, worked out the terms of the Azure Te Syndicate. Mrs. Tandy is the principle beneficiary of the Estate
of S.B. Burnett, which owns 6666 Ranches, and is owner of the Tom L. Burnett Cattle Company, which owns Triangle Ranches. Her involvement with Quarter Horses dates backs to the early 1940’s when she hosted a meeting at her home to discuss the formation of the American Quarter Horse Association. The AQHA
was organized the following year during the Fort Worth Fat Stock Show with Mrs. Tandy as one of its founding members. She was the first woman Honorary Vice President of the AQHA and has been one of the leading advocates of quality and the use of Thoroughbred blood in the improvement of the Quarter Horse. In the case of Azure Te, she has had
a quiet hand in his strong effect on the breed. Mrs. Tandy is one of the few founding members of the AQHA who is still active. She is the mother of Mrs. B.F. Phillips Jr., who, with her husband, is well known as a breeder and promoter of Quarter Horses.
The syndication of Azure Te
was completed within two weeks of February 28, 1968, when letters were mailed to twenty Quarter Horse breeders offering fourteen
of the thirty-three total shares for sale. The balance of the shares was purchased by Ted Wells who stands Azure Te, Jay Pumphrey, syndicate
got his first look at Azure Te. As the horse paraded and played around the walking ring, Jay thought to himself that this horse was just what he’d been looking for.
Negotiations began. Bill Linfoot told Jay and Ted that Mr. Jamieson was getting on in years and really wanted to breed a Kentucky Derby winner; and that the only reason he encouraged Mr. Jamieson to enter into any negotiations on Azure Te was because Linfoot felt that horse was bred too much for speed to sire the type of horse Jamieson wanted. After a good deal of discussion, Dr. Linfoot said they would lease the horse for X dollars with an option to buy at the end of the lease for so many more dollars. Negotiations continued with Jay and Ted unsuccessfully attempting to get the price of the lease lowered. Finally, Jay took Ted aside and said, “I’m going to try one more time, but
I’m going to trade just the way he wants to trade, ‘cause I don’t think there’s going to be another way and I’m not leaving here without that horse.” Ted agreed and while both
begrudged giving as much profit as the seller wanted, they made a deal. The only regrets about the agreement came to light when Jay met G.G. Jamieson the following spring on the Rancheros Vistadores ride. Jamieson told Jay that even though those boys sure did have his authority to trade while he was gone, and a deal is a deal, he really didn’t want to sell Azure Te and he wouldn’t mind at all if Jay just brought the horse back at the end of the lease. In fact, Jamieson offered to forego the last half of
the lease payment for the horse’s return. Jay, sympathetic to the old gentleman’s regard for the horse and concerned that Jamieson may have felt his manager and veterinarian
let him down in offering the option to buy, assured Mr. Jamieson that “his two representatives did one hell of a fine job of working this Texan over.” Jamieson offered an additional concession to allow Jay to breed whatever mares he and the Burnett Ranches wanted for the rest of Azure Te’s life, but when Jay said he had already syndicated the horse and that he could not go back on his word to
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