Bull Lea and Violet!

Violet is related to Bull Lea through at least 3 lines. Bull Lea was a Calumet Farms stud. He raced 27 times, winning 10, taking second 7, and third 3 times. He was the sire of 57 stakes winners, broodmare sire of 105 stakes winners, including Violet's Mark-Ye-Well. He was the leading sire from 1947-1949, 1952, 1953, and leading broodmare sire in 1958-1961. Impressively, he sired Citation, the number 3 race horse of all time, Horse of the Year, and Triple Crown winner!! Violet is directly related to Bull Lea who produced Meadow Maid who was crossed with Nasrullah on the dam side of Violet's sire. Bull Lea also produced Durazna who was crossed with Count Fleet to produce Manzana. So, of the top 5 race horses of the 20th century, Man 'O War, Secretariat, Citation, Kelso, and Count Fleet, Violet is heavily directly related to Man 'O War and Count Fleet, and indirectly related to Secretariat and Citation through very impressive "big heart" gene and stakes winners lines, and very heavily, closely, but indirectly related to Kelso. I hope Clairborne Farms doesn't find out about my royal princess!

Doc Bar -- Hailee's Great-Great Grandsire and namesake!

Hailee has several Three Bars connections and one is through the most famous cutting horse line of all. Her Great-great grandsire on her dam's side is Doc Bar out of Lightning Bar out of Three Bars. Doc Bar was only 14'3", like Hailee, but he had fantastic sexy style. He showed at halter 13 times, with 12 wins and 1 second. He earned 10 grand championships and 1 reserve grand championship, earning 36 national points at Halter. His greatest achievements were as a stud, since he produced the most amazing, speedy, handy cutting horses ever. He was inducted into the Cowhorse Hall of Fame. Doc Bar passed away at 36. You can read more about this amazing Foundation Horse Registry stud who shares his name with my Docs Unspeckled Rock at the following two links:

http://www.bbarcquarterhorses.com/index.html

http://www.ceoates.com/sires/doc-bar.html

The first photo is Lightning Bar, Doc Bar's sire, the second photo is Doc Bar himself!

Barbaro passes, January 29, 2007

Co-owner Gretchen Jackson: "Certainly, grief is the price we all pay for love."

Today, Barbaro was euthanized at the New Bolton Center of the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, after 8 months of intensive treatment for an injury sustained in the 2006 Preakness Stakes. Prayers to his family of owners, riders, caretakers, grooms, veterinarians, fans, companion animals, and equine friends.

Sweet Hailee and Violet are related to this big-hearted champion. Violet shares his family through her Blushing Groom, Nearco, Nasrullah, Man 'O War, and Black Toney lines. Hailee is part of his family through Man 'O War and Black Toney. But we are all part of God's family.

May God care for his darling creation. Barbaro, 2003-2007.

Count Fleet -- Triple Crown Winner and Violet's Direct Relation!

Violet is a direct relation of Reigh Count, Count Fleet, and Fleet's baby, One Count. You have no idea how cool that is. Reigh Count is a Kentucky Derby Winner. Count Fleet was the 1943 Triple Crown Winner, 1943 Horse of the Year, inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, and voted #5 of the Top 100 Race Horses of the 20th century by Blood Horse magazine. He earned $250,300, which is $2.6 million in 2002 dollars. He was so good at age 2 that the Jockey Club assigned him a handicap of 132 points, the largest ever imposed by that organization. He had 26 starts, 16 wins, 4 seconds, and 1 third. He was born March 24, 1940 and passed at the distinguished age of 33 on December 3, 1973. His owner, Hertz of the Hertz rental car company had a stable employee named Sam Ramsen who said of Count Fleet, "When that leggy brown colt wants to run, he can just about fly." And his jockey, Johnny Longden, once said about entering the Belmont, "Going into the race, I thought he'd have to fall down to get beat, and even then I thought he could get up and win. He was that good." But Longden admitted that the fast, high energy colt wasn't easy, he also said, "If he didn't have racing room, he'd go to the outside or just climb over horses. If you were in close quarters with him, you were in trouble."

His son, One Count, also Violet's direct relation, shared 1952 Horse of the Year honors with the famous 2-year-old star, Native Dancer. Among the races he won, One Count won the Belmont Stakes, Travers Stakes, and the Jockey Club Gold Cup! No wonder when Violet puts her nose down and does a buckaroo crow hop and takes off, she just looks like high speed royalty! You can read more about Count Fleet and One Count on my friendly links at Thoroughbred Blood Lines! Violet has at least 4 lines from Count Fleet, and each is impressive. In two lines she's bred through One Count, in another she's bred through Count Fleet and a a Bull Lea filly, and the last is where Count Fleet and War Admiral are the sires of One Count and Wee Nip who produced Three Fingers! Awesome how much Count Fleet she has!

Read more about Count Fleet:
http://www.spiletta.com/UTHOF/countfleet.html
Video footage of Count Fleet's Triple Crown wins!
http://www.racingmuseum.org/hall/horse.asp?ID=51

La Troienne -- Hailee and Violet's "Blue Hen"

Hailee and Violet are very proud to have La Troienne in their family tree -- a 20th century "Blue Hen." A Blue Hen is a mare who produces nothing but the best characteristics and nothing but winners!! La Troienne was born in France and imported to the United States. She was not impressive on the race track, but has left an indelible mark on Thoroughbred history as one of the most influential broodmares of all time. She was imported to Idle Hour Stock Farm and bore 15 foals, 12 of which raced, and 10 of which were winners. Her first daughter, Black Helen, was a super-charged race horse who out of 22 starts, won 15 times. She was so powerful as a race horse that Black Helen routinely won against fields of colts. She was declared the U.S. champion 3-year-0ld racing filly. The only colt she could not beat was Omaha, the Triple Crown winner. She was inducted into the National Museum and Racing Hall of Fame.

La Troienne produced many, many famous descendents, including Go for Gin and Buckpasser. She produced many broodmares-of-the-year.

Hailee has an impressive connection to La Troienne. La Troienne and Black Toney produced Bimelech and Bubbling Over (Kentucky Derby winner) was the sire on the dam's side of a Bimelech cross which produced Sir Bim. Sir Bim was crossed on the dam side of a Top Deck sire side to produce a line in Hailee's sire's history! Whoo!

Violet too is impressively connected to La Troienne's history in at least two powerful ways. Again, she has the Bimelech connection and on the dam's side War Admiral (Triple Crown winner) is the sire to produce a dam for Bimelech which produced Better Self, a stakes winner. She also has a La Troienne and Blue Larkspur cross which produced Big Event who was bred to War Admiral to produce Blue Eyed Momo on Violet's dam's side.

Blue Larkspur is very cool as a cross because he won the Belmont Stakes, Juvenile Stakes, Saratoga Special, Classic Stakes, Withers Stakes, Arlington Cup, and Stars and Striples Handicap. He was 1929 Horse of the Year and Champion 3-year-old Colt, and the 1930 Champion Handicap Male!

You can read more about La Troienne, the fabulous "Blue Hen" of the Hailee and Violet Sanchez family tree at my friendly links, The Pedigree Post!
You can also read about her at:
http://www.tbheritage.com/Portraits/LaTroienne.html

Bimelech -- Hailee and Violet's Shared Relative

Hailee and Violet share a relative in Bimelech who is a thoroughbred with an outstanding pedigree and track record. He had 15 starts, 11 wins, 2 seconds, and 1 third. He was declared the U.S. Champion racing colt in both his 2nd and 3rd year. And he was inducted into the Thoroughbred National Museum and Racing Hall of Fame. The Blood Horse magazine declared him among the Top 100 Racing Horses of the 20th century!

During his career, he won the Saratoga Special, Hopeful Stakes, Pimlico, the Blue Grass, The Derby Trial, the Preakness and Belmont. He sired 30 stakes winners, including siring the stake winner Better Self who is a direct relative in Violet's family.

He fell short of the Triple Crown because he was second in the Kentucky Derby. Some say that he might have had the Triple Crown had he been given a rest from racing. When he broke from the gate on Derby Day, it was his 3rd race in only 8 days! His jockey took the blame and said that he accidently rode him very wide off the rail. In the Preakness, Bimelech beat the horse who edged him out of a Triple Crown in the Kentucky Derby. Not surprisingly, he was called "the iron horse!" You can read more about Bimelech at:

http://www.spiletta.com/UTHOF/bimelech.html

Hailee's Grand-Sire Three Bars (TB)

I am proud to say that Hailee is related through at least 4 lines in her family tree to Three Bars, a very famous thoroughbred who is cross-registered in the APHA and AQHA. He has had enormous influence on thoroughbreds, quarter horses, paints, and appaloosas. He has distinguished himself in racing, halter, and cutting. He was the fastest horse in the U.S. at 5 furlongs, setting track records. He was inducted into the AQHA Hall of Fame for Racing. His mom's, Myrtle Dee's, nickname was "Speedburner". She set a track record in Ohio. Her dad, Luke McLuke won the Belmont, and she's also related to Commando (another Belmont winner) and Ben Brush who won the Kentucky Derby. In Hailee's family tree, Three Bars appears on both her sire and dam's side, heavy on both sides of her sire's line, and on the sire side of her dam's side. In fact, on her mom's side, he is the grandsire of Doc Bar, and as I'll write later, Doc Bar as a cutting horse, set records that no stallion has ever equalled! You can read more about Three Bars on the link at Circle D Horses in Ignatius, Montana. They are reporting a story published in Horseman magazine in 1968:

http://www.circledhorses.com/three_bars_story.htm

You can also read about him at the following link:

http://www.bbarcquarterhorses.com/Three%20Bar/threebarshistory.html

At that link, be sure to read the January 2004 Performance Horse article "Hybrid Vigor and the Three Bars Factor," discussing the amazing genetic impact Three Bars has had on horses!

Secretariat Running His Own Private Belmont Stakes!

Both Hailee and Violet are related to the 1973 Triple Crown Winner, Secretariat, though not directly. Hailee is related primarily through her Man 'O War heritage. Violet, on the other hand, is related to Secretariat multiple ways! she has several lines of Nasrullah, Nearco, and Princequillo, among other connections to Big Red. I am so proud to share in Secretariat's heritage through taking care of his sweet Violet! Those who know Violet personally think she really shows her relation to the Champion who won the Belmont by 30 lengths in a breezy, relaxed, loose finish! Violet is a big red, sexy girl!!

Video footage of Secretariat's Triple Crown races:

http://www.racingmuseum.org/hall/horse.asp?ID=135

Beautiful Hailee, Jumping, 4 years-old

Here's a beautiful 2004 summer day at Showgate Stables. Hailee was just being introduced to jumping, since she was 4 years-old. She's a lovely, athletic girl with a natural flying lead change. She's handy!

Poco Bueno -- Hailee's Great-Grandpa on her Dam's Side!

Poco Bueno is a famous Foundation Horse who is renowned for siring world champion cutting horses. He is in the AQHA Hall of Fame, NCHA Hall of Fame, and the Cow Horse Hall of Fame. He was the first Quarter Horse to be insured for $100,000. You can read more about him on my friendly links the Foundation Horse registry! Or read about him at his Waggoner Ranch home:

http://www.waggonerranch.com/

Hailee on a Christmas 2006 Jaunt

Hailee having fun at Christmas time! These photos were taken by Barbie Valentine.

Hailee's Great-Grandpa, the Famous Easy Jet

Here is a photo of Hailee's Great-Grandpa on her Sire's side. His name is Easy Jet and he is an American legend.

His career racing record: 38 starts, 27 firsts, 7 seconds, 2 thirds.

When he was two years old, he raced 26 times and won 22 firsts.

When he was only 2, he won the All American, Kansas, Sunland Fall, Columbus Triple Crown, and the All-American Quarter Horse Congress Futurities. He was named World Champion Quarter Running Horse, Champion Stallion and Champion 2-year-old Colt.

When he was 3, he earned the World Champion Racing American Quarter Horse and Chamption Quarter Running 3-year-old Colt.

By the end of 1993, his children had earned $25 million as race horses. He sired more than 1,500 Register of Merit horses. In fact, he is the all-time leading sire of racing American Quarter Horse winners, the all-time leading sire of ROM qualifiers, and the first all-American futurity stakes winner who sired a future winner!

He passed on his "busy" personality to my sweet Hailee!!

You can read more about him at:

http://www.sunrisewest.com/easyjet.html

Hailee's sister, Violet

Violet's official name with the Jockey Club is "Velvet Tenderness." She is related to 7 Kentucky Derby Winners and 2 Triple Crown Winners. And she's related to Princequillo, the horse who passes the "big heart" gene to his children. He delivered the "big heart" gene to Secretariat's dam, Somethingroyal!!!

Hailee in her home in Paris, Kentucky

In May, 2006, my beautiful Hailee moved to Paris, Kentucky to live at Valentine Hall Farm, 70 acres of paradise. She lives in the same town where Secretariat lived at Claibourne Farms. She's going to be bred this spring to a Welsh cross pony, Blue Who. I hope she becomes pregnant! You can take a peek at her "intended" on my friendly links at Sugarbrook Farm. He's handsome. His mom used to be the Kennedy children's show pony!

Come visit soon to see posts about her amazing heritage as an American Foundation Horse!!