Page 18 - NM Summer 2023

16 New Mexico Horse Breeder
Oh No U Didnt winning the Rocky Mountain Futurity-G3 at Arapahoe Park. © Coady Photography
more than $427,000. Her biggest earner was Oh No U Didnt by Heza Fast Dash. The colt was Dashin Dee Dee’s last foal (2011) and earned $76,585 from 19 starts.
Just like that, the would-be calf roper made money, and he was in love with racing.
Janis and Mac were devoted to racing but there came a time when they brushed the stars from their eyes and gave serious thought to their future.
“We finally accepted there would be no pari-mutuel in Utah. We were struggling, working harder and harder to nothing more than break even. It was time for us to talk about it.
“We decided our bottom line included only two options. One, we could quit. Two, we could move our operation. We didn’t want to quit, so we started researching locations with pari-mutuel. We’d brought horses to the New Mexico sales for 10 years by then, so we decided to find out everything we could about their program.
“We were in our mid-50s at the time, so we were still young enough to start over. We also felt our mares and stallions could
fit into the big picture and make a positive contribution to New Mexico’s racing.
“There was a lot of wear and tear in that move. There was nothing easy about it, and our first three or four years were tough. There was some stiff competition, and there was no way we could skip paying our dues.”
Dashin Dee Dee was in the caravan that snaked its way from Utah to New Mexico in 2000. She’d colicked and could no longer carry her babies. The New Mexico embryo transfer rules were stricter back then, which meant Janis learned the process and added a new talent to her skill set. Since then, MJ Farms has done a robust embryo transfer business.
At this point, we need to take an important side trip. Janis traveled to Frisco, Texas and the prestigious B.F. Phillips Sale. Raise your hand if you remember those. They were in the brutal summer heat. B.F. had gigantic fans, puttin’ out enough power to blow the bar-b-q off your plate. B.F. put his own First Down Dash in that sale, and Millie Vessels signed the sale ticket to open one of the most glorious adventures in all of Quarter Horse racing. But that’s another story.
Janis picked up a 1967 mare named Miss Moolah Bar (Moolah Bux-Miss Baldys Bar) at the sale. We’re talking really vintage racehorses here! Miss Moolah Bar was in foal to the Thoroughbred Zevi, standing in Odessa/ Midland at Sheets Sunflower Stallion Station. The baby was due in July. Hells bells! Nobody in the Quarter Horse business would bust his/ her chops to be the first in line for a July baby with a Thoroughbred daddy.
Janis was a vet. She figured she’d give Miss Moolah Bar a dose of synchrocept, an abortion drug. The baby would be gone,
and the mare could take it easy until January before making a trip to a recognized Quarter Horse stallion.
The drug was administered, but Miss Moolah Bar’s belly continued swelling. She didn’t abort. Her filly was born July, 1978 and, in a fit of sarcasm, Janis named her Synchrocept. As things turned out, that aborted abortion became the beginning of one of MJ’s most iconic families.
Synchrocept was bred to Streakin Dash and produced Dashin Sandy in 1990, winner of the Diamond Classic Futurity-G2 in a 350-yard track record time of :17.560. She finished her career with a 107 SI and $103,171.
Dashin Sandy walked into Janis’ broodmare band, later going to see Lanes Leinster (Leinster House-Lanes Star Mist) of Blane Schvaneveldt fame and fortune. She produced Champagne Lane in 1994, and she was destined for beautiful things.
Champagne Lane ran out more than $147,000. She scored a 106 SI and was off the board only once in 10 starts with eight wins
to her credit. She aced the Diamond Classic Futurity-G1, the La Primera Del Ano Derby-G2, and the Town Policy Handicap-G3. It was through Champagne Lane that the branches of this particular family tree began leafing out.
Dashin Sandy winning the Diamond Classic Futurity at the Central Wyoming Fair. © Wyoming Fair
Champagne Lane winning the
1997 La Primera Del Ano Derby-G2 at Los Alamitos. © Los Alamitos