T
$O 'OOD
he Quarter Horse gets its name from the ability to run the quarter mile as fast as a horse can run at that distance. The original name for our breed was the Celebrated American Quarter Running Horse of Colonial America. So as we look at the history of this great breed we see that speed is a key ingredient in such activities as racing, roping, pole bending and barrel racing.
"9
,!229 4(/2.4/.
racetrack to Hollywood Park in 1984. This was a monumental change in the life of the Vessels family, as The sale of the racetrack allowed the family to concentrate on the stallion farm as a business.
One of the great sources of speed in the modern quarter horse comes from Vessels Stallion Farm in Bonsall, California and the Vessels’ family. The founder of this great breeding establishment was Frank Vessels Sr. Vessels was a successful businessman and one of his favorite pastimes was quarter horse racing. Vessels’ interest in running quarter horses led to his establishing Los Alamitos Race Course as the first Quarter Horse pari-mutuel racetrack in California. But alongside the development of Los Alamitos Race Course was the development of Vessels Stallion Farm. They owned, stood and/or bred such prominent stallions as Clabber, Go Man Go, Triple Chick, Duplicate Copy and Tiny Charger.
Registration photo of Do Good. Photo Courtesy The AQHA Hall of Fame and Museum.
When the senior Vessels died, the racetrack and stallion farm came under the direction of his son, Frank Vessels Jr. The junior Vessels continued to develop the famous racetrack and stallion farm. His introduction of night quarter racing and importing the stallion *Beduino were two of his contributions to modern quarter horse racing. *Beduino is the all time leading thoroughbred sire of running quarter horses and recently entered the AQHA Hall of Fame. The night racing at Los Alamitos allowed this quarter track to survive in the competitive thoroughbred racing world in California. Vessels also bred, owned, raced and stood Timeto Thinkrich, the 1973 All American Futurity winner. When Frank Vessels Jr. died, the daily operation was taken over by his wife Millie. The racetrack and stallion farm continued to grow until Millie Vessels decided to sell the Page 18
The second major contribution of Millie Vessels to the program was when she bought the yearling First Down Dash in 1985. First Down Dash went on to become the 1987 AQHA Racing World Champion, 1987 AQHA Racing Champion Three-Year-Old and the 1987 AQHA Racing World Champion Three-Year-Old Colt. When Millie Vessels passed away her son Frank “Scoop” Vessels III took over management of the Vessels Stallion Farm. Scoop had already found his place in the Vessels family tree as the designer of the new Vessels Stallion Farm at Bonsall, California. Scoop would go on to syndicate First Down Dash and of course the rest is history as he is the all time leading sire of racing money winners. His foals have earned in excess of $70,000,000. THE WORKING HORSE • NOVEMBER 2010