Page 52 - New Mexico Horse Breeder Spring 2018

NM Champion QH Older Mare
CARSON CITY GIRL
(Woodbridge-Racetrack Barbie TB, Hidden City TB) Bred by: MJ Farms
Owned by: David and Sandra Barrett
Trained by: Fred Danley
2017: 9 2-1-1 $130,954 First Moonflash Maturity
There’s probably no need to point out the name of Carson City Girl’s breeder. But, just in case someone didn’t notice, it’s MJ Farms. Janis Spencer Murray is the breeder of record for Woodbridge (Dash Ta Fame-Champagne Lane, Lanes Leinster) and the breeder for Carson City Girl is MJ Farms.
Trainer Fred Danley is an industry veteran, who always insists he’s blessed with some of
the best owners in the world. That’s no doubt true but it’s also true that it’s also one of those mutually beneficial relationships. The owners are good because Fred is good and vice-versa. It’s one of the old chicken and the egg stories, trying to decide which came first.
“This mare was purchased as a yearling,” began Danley. “The Barretts, both Dave and Sandra, have been with horses for a long time
so they have a solid idea of what they’re looking for when they go to a sale. They usually give the horses they’re interested in a good looking over before I join them. I’ll take a look and we’ll see where we agree and where we differ. They’ve had some cheaper, hard-knocking horses who’ve taken them to the winner’s circle in the past. They stayed hooked and now they have Carson City Girl, who’s a cut above their earlier horses.”
Danley has been responsible for the mare’s training from the very beginning and never hesitates when he says she’s never been any trouble to care for.
Carson City Girl’s bottom side pedigree
is full Thoroughbred, with easily recognized names. Racetrack Barbie, the TB dam of Carson City Girl, is by Hidden City by Carson City
by Mr. Prospector; and Pacific Hideaway, the dam of Hidden City, is by Seattle Slew. Mr. Prospector pops into the bottom side again as the sire of Mr. Integrity. Racetrack Barbie is out of Ms. Interpret, a daughter of Mr. Integrity.
Those high-sounding Thoroughbred names joined with MJ Farms’ rock-solid Quarter Horse dynasty, and the end result was a filly who excels at 350 to 440-yards. She’s a tough mare with a 105
speed index and 22 starts spread over three seasons on the track. Actually, make that two seasons since she left the gate only once in 2015. She has a 3-2-1 stakes record and total earnings of $334,400. Not too shabby for a low-maintenance mare.
“We did remove a very tiny chip when she
was two,” said Danley. “The vet told us it wasn’t necessary but Dave and Sandra wanted to be sure they took care of the mare. We plan to run her for a while longer but, in the meantime, we flushed an embryo after she was bred to Bigg Daddy Cartel.”
NM Quarter Horse Freshman Sire
TRES SEIS NUEVE
(Tres Seis-Ya Ya Sisterhood, Chicks Beduino) Bred by: Gabriel Gomez Barnola (Mexico) Owned by: Valle Guadiana Corporation
Farm: Sierra Blanca Equine/Kim Saunders
Sierra Blanca stands nine high-quality stallions, with seven Quarter Horses and two Thoroughbreds. The farm’s broad-based stallion battery is capable of satisfying the breeding preferences of a variety of clients and their mares.
One of the Sierra Blanca studs, Tres Seis Nueve, was the stand-out New Mexico freshman sire for 2017. The nine-year-old gray son of Tres Seis and Ya Ya Sisterhood boasts a pedigree of some of the industry’s most successful and most firmly established lines.
Tres Seis embodies the tried and true breeding practices of the late Gwendolyn
Eaves of Midland, Texas. The astute breeder was responsible for the superior mare line that included such names as Our Third Delight. Tres Seis Nueva is a double- bred Chick’s Deck; on the top as the sire of Chickarun and on the bottom as the sire of A Classy Chick.
Ya Ya Sisterhood is a product of the magic cross between the renowned Chicks Beduino and the even more renowned Dash For Cash.
Tres Seis Nueve earned $170,755 and was a three-time stakes-placer. He has three registered crops, with one to run. Total progeny earnings for the year came to $112,000-plus.
Tres Seis, the 1999 sire of Tres Seis Nueve, earned $857,000 while winning the Grade 1 Golden State Futurity and finishing second in the All American Futurity, the Rainbow Derby and the All American Derby, all Grade 1. He was named the AQHA Champion Two-Year- Old Colt.
NM Quarter Horse Stallion of the Year
JESSE JAMES JR
(Mr Jess Perry-Loose Lips, First Down Dash) Bred by: Charlie and Dixie Patterson
Owned by: MJ Farms
NM Quarter Horse Broodmare of the Year
ALICE K WHITE
(First Down Dash-Champagne Lane, Lanes Leinster) Bred by: MJ Farms
Owned by: MJ Farms
It seemed acceptable to run the 2017 QH Stallion and the 2017 QH Broodmare as a combined listing. After all, they’re hinged together by Mac Murray and Janis Spencer Murray’s MJ Farms.
The MJ story has been told more than once. As a matter of fact, some readers probably know it by heart and, if the truth be known, the low-key Mac and Janis may be just a tiny bit embarrassed over their constant exposure. By the same token, the MJ story is one that required hard, dedicated work to build. Now, that work is coming full circle.
MJ is not about just the success quotient. Admittedly, that sounds like a dumb thing
to say since, without the success, there would be no story. The point is, the success is the end product, while the story is about how MJ arrived at that end product.
Mac always declares Janis the “brains of the outfit” while he “carries her suitcase.” The two discuss breeding decisions but, according to Mac, it’s Janis who gives the final nod. Actually, that seems appropriate since it was Janis who laid the original building blocks for the mare lines that become stronger and more prolific with each generation. It’s those lines, circling through the industry and creating new branches on the MJ family tree, that bring their own definition of immortality.
So, the first part of the MJ equation places Janis as the guiding hand for breeding decisions. It was Mac, however, who never gave up in his quest to purchase Jesse James Jr and bring him to Veguita, New Mexico.
It wasn’t an easy quest.
Mac believed in the horse every step of the way. He watched him. He studied him. His $167,275 earnings were certainly respectable but they weren’t in the upper echelon. His only
50 New Mexico Horse Breeder