Page 34 - New Mexico Horse Breeder Spring 2018

If there is any question about what it takes for a horse to enter the Hall of Fame, consider a race mare who was foaled in the same de- cade AQHA was founded, succeeded on the track in the 1950s and birthed a dynasty that continues today. Consider Maroon. When a Thoroughbred mare by Sunfire named Mattie Fern was bred (as a wedding gift, free of charge) to Echuca Ladd – a Thoroughbred stallion
who competed in races, rein-
ings and cuttings – the resulting
foal was Maroon, a hard-luck
mare who became known for
being difficult but renowned as
a track-record-setting racehorse
who became one of the great
broodmares in Southwest his-
tory. “Few horses, if any, had a
greater impact on Quarter Horse
racing in New Mexico and Ari-
zona than a Thoroughbred mare
named Maroon,” says Roswell
attorney Dirk Jones, of the mare
who raced for his parents, R.C.
“Punch” and Suzanne Jones.
“More than anything, through
six and seven generations and
beyond, her progeny continues
to perform as stakes winners,
stakes qualifiers and those sorts
of horses. They haven’t fizzled
out and died. They’re still some
of the nicest horses on the tracks.” Foaled in 1949 on the Alcorn Ranch, Maroon was bred by Mary Pearson, whose father, Col. D.C. Pear- son, was superintendent of the New Mexico Military Institute at Roswell. “The first time
I laid eyes on her, I knew she was something special,” Mary recalled of the chestnut filly, as quoted by Nelson Nye in a 1956 issue of The Thoroughbred Record. “She was 4 months
old with the behind of a full-grown Quarter Horse and a neck like a Thoroughbred stallion, a Romanish nose and an eye as wild as a hoot owl.” Unable to take Maroon and her dam to California when she married and became Mary Pearson Smith, the young lady gave the horses to accomplished equestrienne Suzanne Norton, who sent Maroon as a 2-year-old to the A.D. Jones Ranch at Tatum, New Mexico. A.D.’s son Punch wanted to buy the mare, but Suzanne thought she could not sell the horses because they were gifts. The impasse was settled when Punch and Suzanne were married, beginning
their own legacy that today makes them the only married couple inducted separately to the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame. Punch broke Maroon to saddle and raced her on bush tracks in New Mexico and West Texas. The filly finally made her official career debut at Ruidoso Downs at 3, where in her first start, she flipped in the gate and injured her back. Then she start- ed winning. In the hands of a variety of trainers
cades since she produced her first foal, the Leo filly Marooneo in 1958, Maroon built a legacy through generations of Jones-breds that have produced such standouts as A Roon ($269,079), whose second dam is Maroon; Rule The Deck ($522,165), whose third dam is Maroon; and Kuhi Kuhi ($159,925) in the fourth genera- tion. The line continues today through horses
Entering The Hall
Maroon
courtesy of the Quarter Racing Journal • story by Richard Chamberlain & Larry Jo Starkey
such as the full
siblings Kia Won ($178,132) and Grade 1 winner RCJ Major Storm ($555,828), whose third dam is Rule The Deck. Ma- roon produced her last foal, Ze Roon, in January 1977 and died eight hours later at age 28. She was buried in the mare pasture on the Jones Ranch. Maroon impresses today as much as she always has. “I was track and/
or practicing veterinarian from 1950 to 1992 at Ruidoso Downs Race Track and other racetracks in New Mexico,” wrote Dr. Joe Miller in 1998. “In the mid- 1950s, I observed her racing career and, quite understandably, was impressed with her record.
I have also followed her many offspring through the years and their progeny, which has left me even more impressed. If there
is a ‘Blue Hen’ category in the
and jockeys, Maroon capitalized on a hard break from the gate and a stride measured at 26 feet to win the Bright Eyes Stakes at Ruidoso and become the first two-time winner of the But- tons And Bows Stakes at Albuquerque, where she also scored in the New Mexico State Fair Championship. Maroon defeated Hall of Fame horses Black Easter Bunny and Miss Meyers, and champions Johnny Dial and Brigand (TB), and myriad more great horses of the day. In four seasons of official Quarter Horse races from July 1953 through October 1957, Maroon earned $14,016 while compiling a record of 52-12(4)- 8(3)-10(5). Then she started her own family of winners. Bred to some of the finest sires of the day, Maroon produced 11 starters, six winners and the earners of more than $100,000 from
13 foals, including stakes winners Je Roon and De Roon, both by Jet Deck; Dirk One Eleven, by Mr Bar None; and Marooned and his stakes- placed full brother Little Maroon, both by Bob’s Folly. That was but a good start. In the six de-
Quarter Horse breed such as in Thoroughbred terminology, Maroon should be so listed.” What a list. “Maroon was one of the greatest race mares of her day,” writes historian Scott Wells “On the racetrack, she defeated such greats as Brigand, Johnny Dial, Hall of Fame inductee Black Easter Bunny and virtually ev- ery other major competitor of her era. But it
is her long-lasting effect on the breed through her offspring which sets her apart from other fast horses of her day. Through her daughters and granddaughters – such as Marooned, De Roon, Mar Deck, Horned Replica, Je Roon, etc., a whole family of stakes-winning horses has evolved, further including Madam President,
A Roon, Good Catch and the great Rule The Deck. Maroon represents what the AQHA is all about: fast horses and family involvement. Moreover, her own genetic contributions have lasted through more than half a century – and counting.” It’s simple math. Count Maroon in the Hall of Fame.
32 New Mexico Horse Breeder