The Brothers and Their Dam’s Influence

Full brothers Triple Chick and Three Chicks are two of the four sons of Three Bars and out of Chicado V. The roots of these two stallions begins with their breeder Vessels Stallion Farm, the home they would leave to take different paths to make their mark on Quarter Horse racing. We will travel through their life to see how they and their dam are still influencing our horses today.

Foaled in 1955, Triple Chick foundered as a yearling and was unsound to race. So, he became a sire for the Vessels Stallion Farm based on his pedigree credentials. He joined the stallion roster that included Go Man Go and Anchor Watch TB.

The Vessels sold Triple Chick to Mel Hatley in 1966 to stand at Briarwood Farms in Purcell, Oklahoma. Hatley sold him in 1969 to Stephen J. Shovoly, where he went to Sho-Valy Farms in Ortonville, Michigan. His next move came in 1970, when he was purchased by Marvin Warner for his Warnerton Farms of Cincinnati, Ohio. Triple Chick was later purchased by Robert Weir in 1975 to stand at Citation Farms in Jenks, Oklahoma, and by 1976, he was owned by Gerald Wells of Mounds, Oklahoma. His last home was in Geneva, Nebraska, when he was purchased by the partnership of M K W Quarter Horses in 1978. The partnership consisted of Don Kimbrough, Victor Meyer and John Wilkins.

Triple Chick sired 779 foals, 457 starters and 222 racing ROM, including 28 stakes winners and 23 stakes placed runners. His foals earned $1,265,650 and his leading money earner is Chickamona. She won six of her 21 starts earning $111,671 and was second to Go Dick Go in the 1966 All American Futurity. 1963 Autumn Championship winner Scooper Chick is Triple Chick’s second leading money earner with $60,543 and 13 wins in 35 starts, including five stakes races. Some of Triple Chick’s other stakes winners are 2-time stakes winner Seventy Six Chick, who earned $41,043 and won the 1978 Trinity QHA Futurity; 2-time stakes winner Three Lambs, who earned $23,740 and won the 1966 PCQHRA Futurity; and 2-time stakes winner Real Chick, earner of $17,055 and winner of the 1974 AQRA Lassie Stakes. 

Triple Tiny, a stakes placed runner by Triple Chick, was second in the 1962 Freeway Stakes and third in the PCQHRA California Bred Futurity and earned $13,980. Triple Tiny is the dam of 1967 PCQHRA Futurity winner Go A Mite, who earned $64,963; 1974 Juvenile Invitational Handicap winner Tiny Be Mine, who earned $48,334; and 1972 Yakima Meadows Maturity winner Kowton.

Tiny Be Mine is the dam of Especially For You, who is the dam of 1992 Champion 3 Year Old, Champion 3-Year-Old Colt, AQHA Mexico Champion 3 Year Old Rare Form. The colt won five stakes races at three, setting new and/or equaling track records in four of them. He ran the fastest 440 yards at Los Alamitos under the lights in :21.21 to that point in time. His record setting wins came in the Remington Park Derby-G1 in a track record time of :21.79 for 440 yards; Mexico National Championship-G3, equaling the track record for 350 yards in a time of :17.32; California Derby in a track record time for the 400 yards of :19.35; and Special Effort Stakes, running the 350 yards in :17.53. He won the Champion Prep Stakes in :21.21. This is the race that he went the fastest time for 440 yards at Los Alamitos at night. He also won the QHBC Sophomore Classic-G2 as his fifth stakes win at three. He won the 1991 Mystery Futurity and the El Reno Futurity. His record shows 17 wins in 27 starts, with seven stakes wins and $278,191.

Triple Chick became the broodmare sire of 773 starters, 402 ROM, 24 stakes winners and 35 stakes placed runners. These foals earned $2,999,357. His leading money earner is Triple Champion, who had six wins in 24 starts and $273,131. He was first, second or third in six stakes races and won the 1983 Laddie Handicap. Some of Triple Chick’s other stakes winners as a broodmare sire include: Island Ruler, who has earned $123,666 and won four stakes races, including the 1980 Pap Handicap and the 1980 War Chic Handicap; and Andy Go, earner of $111,054 with two stakes victories, including the 1973 Horseman’s QHRA Championship. 

Three Chicks was foaled in 1959 and raced for Vessels Stallion Farm through their Western States Stable. His race record at two is an interesting one. Three Chicks won $14,464 as a freshman with one third place finish in three starts. His first race was an unplaced finish in an allowance to Pokey Bar on Aug. 5. His next start was in a trial for the All American Futurity on Aug. 26, where he garnered third place behind Bunny’s Bar Maid and Leona Dee and qualified for the All American Futurity.

The 1961 All American Futurity consisted of a showcase field of horses that included Pokey Bar, Bunny’s Bar Maid, Golden Note, Mr Three Bars, Savanah Gates, Magnolia Bar, Leona Dee, Art Bar and David Cox. Pokey Bar came in first, with Bunny’s Bar Maid second and Golden Note third. Three Chicks finished fifth behind Mr Three Bars. The first three finishers earned year end awards, with Pokey Bar being named the Champion 2-Year-Old Colt and Bunny’s Bar Maid and Golden Note sharing the Champion 2-Year-Old Filly title for 1961. 

Three Chicks made only two starts in 1962, winning both races. He broke his maiden in a 350-yard race at the Fairplex at Pomona. He then won the Josie Bar Handicap over the 1961 Champion 3-Year-Old Colt Rebel Cause, who was later named the 1962 Champion Aged Stallion.

In 1963, Three Chicks made five starts, with one win and two seconds. He began with an unplaced finish in a race won by Silent Ariel, then came back with a second in the Barbra B Handicap that was also won by Silent Ariel. Three Chicks’ next start came in a 400-yard race where he went unplaced. All three of these races were run in April.

Three Chicks took the summer off and made his next start in September, running second to Straw Flight in an allowance. Straw Flight became the 1963 Champion Aged Mare. The last start for Three Chicks didn’t come until December in the Go Man Go Handicap where he won and defeated Anna Dial, the 1963 Champion Mare and Champion 3-Year-Old Filly.

Three Chicks retired with three wins, two seconds and one third in 10 starts and total earnings of $22,624. His earnings of $14,169 for the fifth place in the All American shows how significant the purse for the All American Futurity had become by 1961, the third year of its existence. The win in the Josie’s Bar netted him $2,750 and he earned $1,125 for second in the Barbra B. His win in the Go Man Go netted him $2,750, a race that is currently a Grade 1 with a purse of $100,000.

The life of Three Chicks changed in 1967 when he was purchased by Paul and Doris Travis when they bought the Golden Valley Ranch in Norman, Oklahoma, from C. F. Boyington. The deal included Three Chicks and 1965/1966 Champion Aged Stallion Tiny Watch, another Vessels bred runner. This was the start of the Travis Ranch, the place that Three Chicks called home for pretty much the rest of his life.

Travis Farm was alive and well in Michigan before they made the decision to move to Oklahoma and get really serious about breeding racehorses. They had first become interested in breeding racehorses in Michigan where they stood Pana Bar. He was a Top AAA/Champion son of Lightning Bar, and the great race mare Miss Panama by Ace of Diamonds. Pana Bar joined the stallion roster at Travis Ranch in Oklahoma.

The Travis’ built a good broodmare band to go with their new sires. They were all AAA or Top AAA race mares, and many were stakes winners. One of the things Travis set out to do was to see that some of these mares became Champions if they weren’t already. The mares were shown at halter and, along with their racing points, earned performance points to earn their title. This band of mares included AAAT/AQHA Champion Fantacia, AAA/AQHA Champion Pal’s Tamak, AAA/AQHA Champion Three Deep, AAA/AQHA Champion Bar Repetition and AAAT/AQHA Champion Decketta.

Three Chicks earned his Champion title by being shown eight times, earning five class wins and five Grand Championships, accumulating 23 points. He was shown one time in western pleasure and earned two points. His good conformation earned him Grand Champion Stallion at the Chicago International Quarter Horse Show, the second largest Quarter Horse show in 1966.

This is where the plot thickens. C. F. Boyington had purchased Scooper Chick by Triple Chick in 1964. Scooper Chick and Three Chicks were stable mates in 1963. Both raced in the colors of the Vessels Stallion Farm’s Western Stables. Scooper Chick was at the top of his game as a runner, setting what was then called a World Record and now a track record running 400 yards in :19.88. He had set other track records, including 350 yards at Pomona in :17.77 and at Bay Meadows for 350 yards in :17.88. He won or placed in 16 stakes races, winning five of them. His stakes wins include the King City Stake, Southern California Stakes, the Memorial Day Handicap and the Josie’s Bar Handicap to go with his Autumn Championship win. Scooper Chick raced in good company just like Three Chicks. He won over such Champions as Jet Deck, Anna Dial, Dariman and The Haymaker. 

Boyington brought Scooper Chick to Oklahoma to stand at stud and then enter the halter arena. He won 21 Grand Champion Stallion titles and earned the Superior Award. He was also Grand Champion at the Chicago International Quarter Horse Show and the Fort Worth Stock Show. 

Scooper Chick went down with colic and then he foundered, which is when Three Chicks came to the front to stand as the lead sire for Golden Valley Ranch. Tiny Watch joined him and then in 1967 they became a part of the new Travis Ranch. Boyington reestablished the Golden Valley Ranch at a new location. Boyington put forth every effort to save Scooper Chick, but in April of 1969 they had to put him down.

Three Chicks sired 614 foals with 392 starters that took home 219 Register of Merit Awards. He had 39 stakes winners and 30 stakes placed runners with combined earnings of $1,975,692. His leading money earner is 1975 Rainbow Futurity winner Chick Called Sue, who was second to Bugs Alive In 75 in the 1975 All American Futurity and had cumulative earnings of $257,713. 

1969 Rainbow Futurity winner Miss Three Wars, by Three Chicks, was another stakes winner and a very special mare that was owned and raced by Paul and Doris Travis. She was second in the 1969 All American Futurity and Kansas Futurity, won the 1970 Rainbow Derby and earned $182,391 on the track.

This brings us to two important sons of Three Chicks in Three Oh’s and Chick’s Deck. Three Oh’s won the 1968 All American Futurity, the 1969 South Texas Derby and the Open To The World Stakes at Sunland Park. He earned $201,715 on the track. Chick’s Deck raced only as a two year old, winning six of nine starts with a win in the 1975 Kansas Futurity and a third in the Rainbow Futurity, earning $198,267. Both of these stallions play a key role in our look at the “Brothers.”

Three Chicks was the broodmare sire of 817 starters, 470 ROM, 36 stakes winners and 47 stakes placed runners. His grandget earned $4,513,840, with his leading money earner being Azure Three, the winner of the 1977 Los Alamitos Derby and the 1978 Vessels Maturity and Shue Fly Handicap. Azure Three was the 1978 Champion Aged Horse and Champion Aged Stallion. His full sister, Stoa Minga, earned $189,639 as a stakes placed runner in the 1979 Miss Princess Invitational Handicap and the 1980 Horseman’s QHRA Championship. 

One of the interesting crosses for Three Chicks is with the mare Gay’s Delight. This cross produced Chick’s Gay and Chick’s Delight and these sisters account for a number of stakes horses. 1973 Twin Sister Futurity winner Chick’s Gay earned $34,114 and produced four stakes winners and two stakes placed runners. Her leading money earner is 1982 Champion Aged Stallion Lucks Gay Chic, winner of the 1981 Devils River Derby and earner of $154,388. Her other stakes winners were What Lucks Gay Chic, winner of $79,389; Hempens Gay Chic, winner of $39,949; and Wranglers Chicgay, winner of $38,188. Her stakes placed runners were Lucks Chic Gay, winner of $21,333; and Jet Image Chicgay, winner of $20,565.

Chick’s Delight won the 1972 Sugar Loaf Futurity and earned $9,214. Chick’s Delight is the dam of two stakes horses in What Lucks Delight winner of the 1986 Barbra B Handicap-G3, 1987 Pap Handicap and 1985 Ross Meadows Winter Derby with $93,485; and stakes placed Luckgay Chicdelite with earnings of $24,768. He was second in the Bandera Poor Boy Derby.

THE BROTHER’S PEDIGREE

The circumstances that brought Three Bars and Chicado V together goes back to the Vessels’ foundation mare Do Good. This 1938 mare was bred by Jim Harkey, who was originally from Texas and then moved to the Carlsbad, New Mexico area. Do Good was one of the mares he had in his herd. 

The article “Chicado V” that appeared in the June 1983 issue of SPEEDHORSE, tells us two versions of how Do Good made her way to the Vessels Stallion Farm. The first version comes from Henry Grandi, who helped Harkey move his mares. He reported that he got Do Good as part payment for helping. According to Grandi, he gave Do Good to Jim Doublin when he went off to fight in WWII.

This is where the story changes. Jim Doublin’s grandson, Lawrence Cauley, said that Do Good and her dam Flossie were payment for grazing rights on the ranch. At any rate, we have come to the point that a man named Welch persuaded Doublin to breed Do Good to Chicaro Bill. They got the very good runner named Senor Bill.

Welch was later able to buy Senor Bill, Do Good and Flossie. He sold Senor Bill to Franklin Cox, with Do Good and Flossie going to California and the Vessels Stallion Farm. Senor Bill ran 44 official races, winning nine with fourteen seconds and fourteen thirds to earn his AAA/ROM. Senor Bill equaled a track record for 300 yards in :16.400 and was stakes placed with a second in the 1949 Silver City Championship Stakes.

Do Good and her dam Flossie went to the Vessels Stallion Farm and became major players as part of the foundation of the program. Clabber’s Flossie V, another daughter of Flossie, is an AQHA Dam of Distinction. Her produce record includes 1956 Champion 3-Year-Old Filly Clab Win and 1957 Champion 3-Year-Old Colt Clabber’s Win.

The first foals bred by Vessels that were out of Do Good were AAA/ROM runner Clabber II and AA/ROM runner Clabber Shu V. Clabber II became a successful sire for Vessels and sired mares like Clabber Tiny, the dam of Tiny Charger and Tiny Watch. Clabber Shu V is the dam of six ROM, including 1957 California Bred Futurity winner Winning Shot. 

The success of Senor Bill brought Do Good back to Arizona to be bred to Chicaro Bill. This time, they got a colt named Charro Bill V, an AA/ROM runner that had 78 starts with 11 wins, 11 seconds, 12 thirds and earnings of $7,240.

Do Good made one more trip to Arizona and the court of Chicaro Bill to produce Chicado V, who had a short tenure on the track, but it netted her the 1952 Co-Champion 2-Year-Old title. She had six starts in total, with 3 wins, 1 second and 1 third, earning $5,212. 

Chicado V produced nine foals with seven starters, four stakes winners, six winners and seven ROM. Her 1956 colt War Chic was born the year after Triple Chick and earned a Top AAA, winning races like the 1958 Bay Shore Juvenile Stakes. War Chic, by War Bam TB, earned $36,578 and was the 1958 Champion 2-Year-Old Colt.

Table Tennis, by Spotted Bull, was Chicado V’s next foal. The stakes winner and Champion Table Tennis won 10 of her 35 starts with five seconds and five thirds. She won the 1959 PCQHRA Futurity and the 1960 Pomona Championship and earned $35,197 and was named the 1960 Champion 3-Year-Old Filly. She is the dam of 1965 Champion 2-Year-Old Filly Rapid Volley, who is by Three Bars, making her a 3/4-sister to Three Chicks and Triple Chick.

The 1960 foal out of Chicado V was Chicado Chick, a full brother to Triple Chick and Three Chicks. He was an AAA/ROM runner and was an AQHA Champion with 42 halter points and 24.5 performance points. Anchor Chic, by Anchor Watch, was another AAA/ROM runner out Chicado V. He won three races in 16 starts.

The Ole Man is the fourth full brother to Triple Chick and Three Chicks. He was a AAAT/ROM runner, winning the 1966 Lightning Bar Memorial Handicap and the 1966 State Fair Stallion Stakes. He won $21,156 with 33 starts and eight wins. He sired horses that won $1,077,061 on the track, including 1976 Old South Futurity winner Ole Sport. The Ole Man was inducted in the AQHA Hall of Fame in 2018.

The last foals out of Chicado V were Successor by Go Man Go and Aisal by Double Bid. Successor was a AA/ROM runner with no wins in eight starts. Aisal was an unraced mare who is the dam of five racing ROM.

When we delve into the pedigree of Chicado V, we find an interesting breeding pattern that will take us to “Inbreeding to Superior Females.” This is the long standing breeding theory or pattern as defined by the late Leon Rasmussen and his fellow pedigree analyst Rommy Faversham. These two pedigree gurus have long studied the influence of mares on the modern Thoroughbred, and we will use some of what they have professed to show how Chicado V has influenced the breed through her sons Triple Chick and Three Chicks.

We will start with the pedigree of Chicaro Bill and then concentrate on the pedigree of Do Good. 

Chicaro Bill is by Chicaro, the famous Thoroughbred we see in so many pedigrees. Chicaro is by Chicle and out of Wendy. Chicle is by Spearmint and out of Lady Hamburg by Hamburg, who is out of Lady Reel, a daughter of Mannie Gray. Wendy is by Peter Pan by Commando by Domino, who is out of Mannie Gray. This gives us an example of “inbreeding to a superior female” with a 5x5 breeding pattern. 

The pedigree of Do Good will be based on the AQHA Registration Application submitted when she was registered. She is by St Louis by Eck Davis TB. The dam of St Louis is Old Flossie by a stallion named Baby. The dam of Old Flossie is Old Dutch. 

The dam of Do Good is Little Flossie, who became Flossie when she was registered. Flossie is by Duggan by Baby and out of Old Flossie. The dam of Flossie is Old Floridene by Harmon Baker, who is by Peter McCue and out of Nona P. The dam of Old Floridene is Little Dutch by Clay McGonigal. The dam of Little Dutch is Old Dutch. This gives Do Good a breeding pattern of 3x4x4 to Old Dutch and shows “inbreeding to a superior female.”

So, how do we apply this breeding theory to our current runners? We will answer that question with some of the horses highlighted in this profile, including Scooper Chick, Three Oh’s, Chick’s Deck, Tres Seis and maybe a few more.

INBREEDING TO CHICADO V

2018 All American Derby-G1 winner Hotstepper will serve as our example. This 2015 gelding came into the All American Derby with a record of near misses, including a second in the 2017 Texas Classic Futurity-G1, a third in the 2017 All American Futurity-G1 and a fourth in the 2018 Rainbow Derby-G1. His earnings stood at over $500,000, but he had no stakes win on his record.

Hotstepper is by One Famous Eagle by Mr Jess Perry who is by Streakin La Jolla and out of Scoopie Fein by Sinn Fein by Three Oh’s by Three Chicks out of Chicado V. The dam of Scoopie Fein is Legs La Scoop by Scooper Chick by Triple Chick out of Chicado V.  Thus, Scoopie Fein is inbred to Chicado V with a breeding pattern of 4x4 to this great mare.

The dam of One Famous Eagle is One Famous Lady by Chicks Beduino by Beduino. Chicks Beduino is out of A Classy Chick by Chicks Deck by Three Chicks. The dam of One Famous Lady is One Slick Cookie by Dash For Cash. One Slick Cookie is out of Pfeffernusse by Tiny’s Gay. Pfeffernusse is out of Chick’s Fantacia by Three Chicks. This gives One Famous Lady a breeding pattern of 4x4 to Three Chicks and 5x5 to Chicado V through the half-brother and sister Chicks Deck and Chick’s Fantacia. 

We often find “inbreeding to superior females” throughout the pedigree like we see in the pedigree of Do Good. Then we see a situation like One Famous Eagle with multiple crosses to a mare like Chicado V and many would say her appearance in the pedigree is outside the definition of inbreeding as she is not found within the first five generations. But, we also see individuals like Scoopie Fein and One Famous Lady, who are inbred to Chicado V within their first five generations. These mares would appear in the Rasmussen pedigree as Rasmussen Factor (RF) mares. Scoopie Fein and One Famous Lady are then RF mares, as they are linebred to Chicado V. Do Good would be an RF mare as she is linebred to Old Dutch.

THE PEDIGREE PATTERN AND NICKS

The dam side of the pedigree of Hotstepper gives us a nick with an interesting blood affinity between his dam Pandorum and One Famous Eagle. Pandorum is by Tres Seis by Sixarun by Streakin Six. Sixarun is out of Chickarun by Chicks Deck by Three Chicks out of Chicado V. This gives the nick between One Famous Eagle and Tres Seis a blood affinity with the blood of Chicado V. Hotstepper has a breeding pattern of 7x7x7x7x8 to Chicado V.

2018 All American Gold Cup-G1 winner Bodacious Eagle is by One Famous Eagle. Bodacious Eagle is out of Bodacious Dream by Corona Cartel who is out of Corona Chick by Chicks Beduino who is out of A Classy Chick by Chicks Deck by Three Chicks who is out of Chicado V. Thus, the nick of One Famous Eagle with Corona Cartel mares has the blood affinity through the blood of Chicado V. Bodacious Eagle has a 7x7x7x7x8 to Chicado V.

Apollitical Jess by Mr Jess Perry gets his connection to Chicado V through his sire’s dam, the RF mare Scoopie Fein. Apollitical Jess has proven to be successful crossing with a variety of broodmare sires. Tres Seis has been the broodmare sire of some good runners sired by Apollitical Jess. 2017 Ruidoso Derby-G1 winner Tough To Bee is one of those runners. The dam of Tough To Bee is Peppermint Seis by Tres Seis, who is by Sixarun and gets his dose of Chicado V from his sire who was out of Chickarun by Chicks Deck by Three Chicks. 

The dam of Peppermint Seis is Rare Peppermint by Rare Form. When we profiled Rare Form earlier, we left a part of his pedigree out. His sire is The Signature by Noholme II. The dam of The Signature is Mable Chick Too by Moolah Bux. The dam of Mable Chick Too is Mable Chick by Triple Chick. The dam of Rare Form is Especially For You, who is out of Tiny Be Mine and she is out of Triple Tiny by Triple Chick. This gives Rare Form a 5x5 breeding pattern to Chicado V, which is a form of inbreeding to a superior female. This makes Rare Form an RF stallion. 

The dam of Rare Peppermint is Chickazita, a mare out of Jean Ann Chick by Chicks Etta Deck by Three Chicks. Chicks Etta Deck is out of Decketta, making him a full brother to Chicks Deck. When we look at the five generation pedigree of Peppermint Seis, we see a 6x7x7x6 breeding pattern to Chicado V. Tough To Bee by Apollitical Jess and out of Peppermint Seis by Tres Seis has a breeding pattern of 7x7x7x8x8x7 to Chicado V.

The Tres Seis nick with Apollitical Jess carries over into 2015 Easy Jet Stakes-RG3 winner Celtic Emblem. His dam, Three Green Leaves, is by Tres Seis and out of Sky Glow. Three Green Leaves gets her Chicado V blood from her dam Sky Glow out of Sky Chicks by Chicks Beduino out of A Classy Chick by Chicks Deck by Three Chicks. Celtic Emblem has a breeding pattern of 7x7x7x8 to Chicado V. 

This leads to another question about how inbreeding to superior females that appear outside the fifth generation effect the pedigree. Faversham and Rasmussen attribute this “accumulation of family strains” as a form of inbreeding to superior females. Thus, the multiple lines to Chicado V moves her influence forward in the pedigree. 

This is just the tip of the iceberg when we look at pedigrees today and the influence of Chicado V and her sons Triple Chick and Three Chicks. Our profile of The Brothers shows us how they have contributed to Chicado V’s influence as one of those superior females and the many benefits we see from inbreeding to her genes.