Vessels Stallion Farm - Kentucky Equine Research

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Robbi KnudsonMeticulously maintained facilitiesare a hallmark of Vessels StallionFarm. The farm’s stallions arehoused in this barn.Scoop Vessels continued the family legacy with the purchaseof a Quarter Horse colt, First Down Dash. A son ofprominent racing sire Dash For Cash, the colt was namedChampion Two-Year-Old and Champion Three-Year-Old inhis early racing career. Following a victory in the 1987Champion of Champions Race, First Down Dash achievedthe title of World Champion. With track winnings totaling$857,000 and 13 victories in 15 starts, the horse retired tobegin a breeding career. His first foal crop produced a winnerof the All-American Futurity, the richest event forracing Quarter Horses. The young sire proved that successwas no fluke when his offspring also claimed victory in theprestigious race the following two years.After establishing this unprecedented trio of wins, FirstDown Dash was syndicated and went on to become theleading all-time sire in Quarter Horse racing, producing 29national champions and three world champions. Hisrecord stands as the first and only Quarter Horse stallionwhose progeny have reached the $50 million mark intotal earnings.Vessels Stallion Farm is carrying on this top bloodline bystanding two sons of First Down Dash. Fishers Dash, foaledin 1993, ran the second-fastest 440-yard time of any twoyear-oldin the nation and was in the money in five ofeight starts. Retired to stud in 1997, his daughters includeHardly Hateful, Champion Two-Year-Old Filly of 2004 andwinner of almost $437,000 in her first year at the track.Dash to Chivato, a 1996 full brother to Fishers Dash, wonthe Southern California Derby (grade 1) and the PCQHRADerby (grade 2) before beginning a career at stud.Splash Bac, another Vessels stallion, boasts a record offive wins and three second-place finishes in ten racingstarts, credentials that boosted him to the title ofChampion Two-Year-Old Colt. He has sired two world champions(Canada), two regional champions, and 137 winnersincluding 25 stakes victors with total earnings of over $3.5million. Buccaneer Beach, stakes winner and ChampionAged Gelding in 2004, is a son of Splash Bac.In the early 1990s, Vessels Stallion Farm was looking toacquire a promising Thoroughbred stallion. The right horsecame along in the form of In Excess, an Irish-born EclipseAward nominee and winner of close to $1.8 million at thetrack, racing on both dirt and turf. In Excess has had anexemplary stud career, earning the title of leading freshmansire in 1996. He has produced nine California championsand many stakes winners, and his get have earned morethan $22 million to date. Among his more famousracing sons and daughters are Indian Charlie (1998California Horse of the Year and ChampionThree-Year-Old Colt) and Excessivepleasure (2003California Champion Three-Year-Old Colt and winnerof over a million dollars).Another of the farm's fine Thoroughbred stallionsis Apollo, who is lending his speed to QuarterHorse bloodlines. His daughter One More Habitrecently won the grade 1 $232,900 Los AlamitosWinter Derby final, and son Old Habits was the1999 Champion Three-Year-Old Gelding.As of last year's racing season, Devon Lane, a1993 son of Storm Cat, had sired 46 Thoroughbredwinners for earnings of well over $2 million, aswell as 12 winners on the Quarter Horse circuitwith earnings of more than a quarter-million dollars.Another Vessels stallion is Momentum, a 1998son of Nureyev, who recently ended a racing careerin which he finished in the money in 13 of 17starts. Momentum will join Apollo and Devon Lanein bringing Northern Dancer blood to the Vesselsstallion barn. A last young stallion, Jackpot, is bySeeking the Gold and out of Frolic, a full sister tothe successful Claiborne stallion Out of Place.Jackpot raced through his six-year-old season and,like Momentum, is only starting his career at stud.These young horses have been carefully selected tocarry the Vessels winning tradition into the future.16 Equinews/ Volume 8, Issue 2

Robbi KnudsonQuarter Horse andThoroughbred foals areraised at VesselsStallion Farm.According to Rich Decker, Vessels Stallion Farm ownsabout 120 broodmares, approximately half of which areThoroughbreds and half are Quarter Horses. Countingmares that are shipped to the farm for breeding, foaling,or other reasons, the resident broodmare count is usuallyaround 400. The farm points all of its young horses towardthe yearling sales, Decker said. Vessels animals havebrought top dollar at sales in recent years, often leadingthe day's sale prices.Decker understands the many details that must be consideredin the course of a breeding season. He explainedthat, in order for a horse to be registered as aThoroughbred, the mare must conceive from a live cover,so Thoroughbred mares are shipped in for breeding.Quarter Horses, on the other hand, may be producedthrough artificial insemination or by embryo transfer, sothe farm's reproductive center offers cooled shipped semenby contract. All offspring of First Down Dash, in fact,result from artificial insemination rather than live cover.Embryo transfer, a somewhat more complicated procedure,involves flushing an embryo from a mare's uterus early inthe pregnancy and implanting it in the uterus of anothermare who then carries the foal to term. The resulting foalis eligible for registration as the offspring of the first mare,although this horse may have long since returned to racing,showing, or another career, or may even have beenrebred to produce multiple embryos in the same season.Decker and the other staff members bring valuableexperience to their jobs, and all their skills are needed tokeep the large and complex operation running smoothly.Some, including Decker, have college degrees, but allwould probably agree that years of hands-on work withthe horses is at least as valuable as any classroom learning."It takes a lot of people, and a tremendous amount oftime, to handle the various horses every day," Decker said.An integral part of horse farm management is the nutritionalprogram that is used. When Decker joined the Vesselsteam, he asked Dr. Joe Pagan, president of KentuckyEquine Research, Inc. (KER), to evaluate the farm's feedingprogram and suggest ways to improve it. Pagan, whosetraining and experience include formulating special feedsfor top equine athletes in many disciplines, worked withKER Team Member Associated Feed in Turlock, California tomanufacture a custom 14% sweet feed. The product, whichis fortified with KER's proprietary vitamin-mineral-proteinbalancer pellet, meets the needs of stallions, broodmares,and young horses. Yearlings being prepped for sales are feda second formulation in which some of the grain is replacedwith beet pulp, a fermentable fiber that delivers energy inan extremely safe fashion."Other than the pedigrees of the sire and dam, nutritionis one of the most important, but often overlooked, factorsin allowing a foal's genetic potential to come through,"Decker commented. "We have been very pleased with theservice provided by Associated Feed. The professionals atAssociated Feed and Kentucky Equine Research have goneout of the way to be sure we have the consultation andproducts to keep our horses in good condition. I feel theyhave definitely improved our overall nutrition program."Recent research has pointed out the impact of feedingpractices on proper skeletal development, and Decker saidthe rate of metabolic bone disease has decreased amongthe young horses at Vessels Stallion Farm since KER's recommendationshave been in place.Producing the best horses may well involve an elementof chance, but luck can be helped along by planning, innovation,and attention to detail. Improving the land,acquiring premier breeding stock, building an experiencedand capable staff, and following expert nutritional advicehave moved Vessels Stallion Farm to its position at the topof the equine industry.Equinews/Volume 8, Issue 2 17

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