Page 91 - March_2022

“...Any time I see his (Tonto Bars Hank) name in a pedigree I consider it a plus and I am reminded of the power-packed two year old who was our
magnificent neighbor on my first summer on the mountain.” – Scott Wells
When Labor Day arrived, Dad’s prediction that we might be in trouble with
our little stable had proven to be accurate. We had won a single maiden race during the four- month season, with nothing to show for it but having learned the lesson that we needed better horses. I was about to see my first All American Futurity, but we would be watching as spectators, not as participants. As we drove from barn 17 toward the grandstand that day, we gave a ride to a young jockey, Curtis Perner, who would ride Tonto Bars Hank that day (and who, some 20-plus years later, would become my brother- in-law for a time). When we dropped him off near the jocks’ room, Dad told him, “Go get the money, Curt. You’re sure ‘nuf horseback.” Then after Curt had left the car, Dad told us how he’d seen him at Centennial in Denver one morning a few years before and recognized his talent. “He came out onto the track on a colt that just busted in two and bucked as hard as a horse can buck and he stayed right in the middle of him the whole time and just took off and galloped him like it was nothing. That boy is a hand.”
I had never seen anything like Labor Day at Ruidoso Downs. It was standing room only and very little of that. I took up my position at the chain link fence of the old amphitheater-style saddling paddock before the horses arrived for the big race. Rebel Cause came in looking like
a dark brown cheetah. He was streamlined and tight twisted, like all the Top Deck offspring. To my eye he looked to be the best of the bunch until Tonto Bars Hank came prancing into the enclosure, his muscles rippling. A man in overalls behind me said, “That sum’bitch looks like he could pull the starting gate!” After the horses were saddled, I raced over and pulled myself up
onto the chain link fence behind the old winner’s circle, which was then located at the finish line. I’ll never forget those incredibly tense seconds as the final horses were loaded into the gate. I had never experienced anything like it before and now, 60-plus years later, having experienced it many, many times, I still regard it as one of the most scintillating experiences of my life.
The race remains a blur in my memory. I know Tonto Bars Hank won, though not by much. A filly named Three Deep was second, a head in front of Rebel Cause. So, there they were, descendants of the three Thoroughbred stallions who would improve the Quarter Horse breed immeasurably—Three Bars, Depth Charge and Top Deck - finishing in that order in what was instantly the most important Quarter Horse race of them all. Galobar, a daughter of Three Bars, had won the inaugural edition of the race just the year before. The die was cast.
Tonto Bars Hank was sent from Ruidoso to Albuquerque where he defeated older horses in
the Stallion Stakes, setting a New Track Record. He then was sent to California where a younger trainer, Tommy Wieburg, took over training duties from old Pat Simpson, who had no desire to ply his trade in the bustle of greater Los Angeles. Tonto Bars Hank and Rebel Cause resumed their rivalry at Los Alamitos where “Hank” showed the California doubters what he was made of when he blasted 350 yards in 17.6 seconds in the Bardella Handicap, only a tenth of a second off the world record—and he was still only a two year old!
Then Rebel Cause scored over Hank in the Los Ninos, intensifying the rivalry. But Tonto Bars Hank closed the season with wins in the Newport Stakes and the Kindergarten Futurity, closing the season with nine wins in 12 starts and earnings of
At left, Scott with his sisters Sharon & Terry and their father Ted.
At right, are Mellyn & Scott Wells.
$93,863—moving him past Go Man Go as the all-time richest Quarter Horse. He was of course recognized as Champion Two-Year-Old Colt and Champion Stallion. He spent his entire three- year-old year in California and was again voted Champion Three-Year-Old Colt. He became the first Quarter Horse to earn more than $100,000. His final earnings were $133,919.
The last time I saw Tonto Bars Hank he was
at Ruidoso again in his four-year-old year. He was being trained toward a career climax by yet another man—the legendary Walter Merrick, the man who had leased Three Bars and first stood him to Quarter Horse mares. Merrick had witnessed the colt’s ascension to the pinnacle of Quarter Horse racing and was no doubt hopeful that this was the perfect blend of Quarter Horse and Thoroughbred bloodlines he had sought to create. After his championship season at age three, Hank was leased by Merrick who stood him to a full book of mares, then brought him back to the races. After
a couple of defeats on muddy tracks which he detested, Tonto Bars Hank was sent postward for the Lightning Bar Handicap. I was standing beside the paddock at Ruidoso Downs when Merrick led him in. He was a hulk. Bold for a twelve-year-old, I asked Mr. Merrick what he thought the horse weighed. “Thirteen and a quarter” was his quick and confident reply. I took it as gospel then and I trust that estimate to this day.
Tonto Bars Hank won the Lightning Bar that day, going out a winner, then went on to
a stud career which can only be described as mediocre. But any time I see his name in a pedigree I consider it a plus and I am reminded of the power-packed two year old who was our magnificent neighbor on my first summer on the mountain.
SPEEDHORSE March 2022 89
Courtesy Scott Wells
Courtesy Scott Wells