but he also wants good-looking, good-natured horses that can do anything. For Hank, versatility is the goal. Like the late Walter Merrick, Hank is a diligent student of
pedigrees and over the years he has learned how to work within a budget. Finding outstanding bloodlines without paying top dollar is difficult, but not impossible. “When they dropped the fee to Easy Jet Too a few years ago,
An attractive homozygous tobiano with a top-notch speed- bred pedigree, Chasin The Money was exactly the kind of stallion Francisco “Chico” Garcia was looking for—Chico purchased the 12-year-old stallion from breeder Hank Sif- ford earlier this year and exported him to Brazil, where he’s already attracted a lot of interest from breeders.
a wait-and-see approach seems like a throwback to an earlier time—a little bit “old school.” That approach can succeed, though, but only if the individual animal is a true standout. Chasin The Money, a strikingly handsome tobiano stallion
purchased privately by investors for stud duty in Brazil, is a perfect example of how a good horse can sell himself in the international marketplace.
Marketing Individuals Chasin The Money was bred and raised by Hank Sifford,
owner with his wife, Pat, of Hideaway Ranch near Belfry, Montana. Hideaway is a relatively small operation, with only five or six broodmares in the pastures at any one time. Hank says his horses are “bred to run,” and he’s been successful as a breeder of racing Paints,
we got three breedings,” Hank said. Buying into the horse was an easy decision for the Montana horseman. A son of prominent Quarter Horse stallion Easy Jet, Easy Jet Too was an outstanding runner and is one of Paint Horse racing’s most influential sires. Through 2012, the stallion ranked fifth among the leading sires of racing Paint Horses, with progeny earnings of $1,591,108. Hank used one of the breedings for Western Morning, a stakes producer who goes back to Easy Jet Too through her dam and whose sire line traces to Thoroughbred Horse of the Year Native Dancer. The result of the breeding was Chasin The Money, a 2001 black tobiano stallion. “He was a homebred with a champion’s pedigree and a half-
brother that ran really well,” Hank said. Chasin The Money was bred to run and that was Hank’s plan, but the horse never made it to the races because of an accident. “Every time I looked at the horse in the field I could see him winning on the track, but we didn’t race him because of a seri- ous injury to his left front foot,” he explained. Disappointed but realistic, with the best interest of his horse
foremost, Hank sent Chasin The Money to stud instead. Hank promoted Chasin The Money as a stallion in a decid- edly non-high-tech way, with advertisements in breed maga- zines and by shipping semen, counting on the quality of the horse’s offspring to build his reputation. The horse was selling himself Hank says. “If you emphasize pedigree, keep the ads running, be truth- ful and raise good horses, the buyers will find you,” he said. “And it doesn’t hurt to be lucky.” Hard work and luck paid off one day a few months ago when Hank received a call from Brazilian horseman Francisco “Chico” Garcia.
Purchased from the United States and imported to Colom- bia by APHA member Ramiro Mejia in 2006, Sugs Lil Princess represents a growing number of Paint Horses in South America. The dam of four registered foals to date, Sugs Lil Princess is pic- tured with her 2007 tovero filly, Paloma De Cauquillo.
PAINT HORSE RACING
JULY 2013
13
COURTESY RAMIRO MEJIA
COURTESY CHICO GARCIA
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