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In the Blood: Luckie Moonstone
Posted on March 19, 2018 by Larry Thornton
Florida Reining Classic Derby Level 4 Open winners Luckie Moonstone and Shawn Flarida • Photo by Waltenberry
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When the Florida Reining Classic Derby Level 4 Open concluded, it was Equi-Stat Elite $6 Million Rider Shawn Flarida aboard Luckie Moonshine in the winner’s circle. They scored an impressive 230.5 to take home the Championship, worth $5,337.
Luckie Moonshine (Spooks Gotta Gun x My Lucky Moonstone x Topsail Whiz) is a 5-year-old stallion owned by Jason Dobrinski, of Factoryville, Pennsylvania, and bred by Loren Booth’s Booth Ranches in Orange Cove, California. A look at his pedigree shows us very little duplication of ancestors in his five-generation pedigree, something we don’t often see. But, we will see a blood affinity that is a part of the magic cross between this sire and dam.
SIRE LINE
Spooks Gotta Gun • QHN File Photo
Spooks Gotta Gun (Grays Starlight x Katie Gun x John Gun) was the winner of $81,638. His wins include the 2007 American Paint Horse Association Junior Reining World Champion title and the 2008 Reining By The Bay Derby Open Championship. He is an Equi-Stat Elite $1 Million Sire with offspring earnings of more than $1.8 million. His leading money-winners are National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) Triple Crown winner Spooks Gotta Whiz ($363,435) and The Kids Gotta Gun ($101,030).
Grays Starlight (Peppy San Badger x Doc’s Starlight x Doc Bar), with limited showing, won $41,128. He was the 1988 Arizona 4-Year-Old Futurity Open Champion. Grays Starlight is the sire of all-around performers that have earnings of greater than $12 million, with $1.2 million in reining. His top money-earners are Stella Starlight ($304,920) in cutting, Bobby Starlight ($140,132) in reined cow horse and Starlights Wrangler ($128,810) in reining.
Peppy San Badger (Mr San Peppy x Sugar Badger x Grey Badger III) was the 1977 National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) Futurity Open Champion and the 1978 NCHA Derby Open Champion, and his total earnings are $172,711, according to the NCHA. He is the sire of cutting horses that have earned more than $24.6 million, including 1993 NCHA Horse of the Year Little Badger Dulce ($668,461).
Peppy San Badger has had an interesting influence as an all-around sire. His sons, according to Equi-Stat, have sired earners of $119,527,679 in cutting, reining and reined cow horse, making him a leading paternal grandsire in all three events.
Doc’s Starlight is out of Tasa Tivio, by Poco Tivio. She was a two-time NCHA Open Reserve World Champion and won the 1978 NCHA Open World Finals. Her total earnings are $134,442, and she has 60 American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) points, earning a Superior in cutting.
Katie Gun • Photo by Cam Essick
This mare is the dam of eight foals, seven of which are performers that earned $206,079. Three of her sons are Grays Starlight, Gallo Del Cielo (Rooster) and Paddys Irish Whiskey, and all three are million-dollar-plus sires by Peppy San Badger.
Katie Gun (John Gun x Bueno Katie x Aledo Bueno Bar) earned 68.5 Open and 15.5 Amateur AQHA performance points. She was the 1990 AQHA High-Point Reining Mare, the AQHA High-Point Junior Reining Horse and the AQHA Reserve High-Point Reining Horse. She was shown in six events and was a point-earner in all six, with a Superior in Reining.
The Equi-Stat produce record for Katie Gun shows that her foals have earned $652,745. These performers include Colonels Smoking Gun (Gunner) ($177,386) and Hollywood Gotta Gun ($115,519).
John Gun (One Gun x Cee Bars Echols x Cee Bars) won $37,469 in cutting. Cee Bars gives us our first look at one of the few duplicate ancestors in this pedigree.
DAM LINE
My Lucky Moonstone, pictured in 2000 with Sally Broten • Photo by Waltenberry
My Lucky Moonstone (Topsail Whiz x My Moon Stone Chex x King Fritz) was the 2000 NRHA Futurity Saddlesmith Non-Pro Champion and a 2000 United States Equestrian Team (USET) Pro/Non-Pro Classic Team Reserve Champion. She earned $43,553.
The foals out of My Lucky Moonstone have Equi-Stat records of $379,572, with 21 money-earners. Her foals include Whiz N Starlight ($75,158), the winner of the 2010 South Canadian Derby Open and a three-time winner of the Canadian National AQHA Senior Reining. This horse is Superior in reining, with 115 AQHA points. The second leading money-winner is What A Lucky Hit ($63,512), the 2011 Rocky Mountain Reining Horse Association Summer Slide Futurity Open Champion and Levels 3 and 2 Open Champion. Third is Moonstone Mega ($53,431), winner of the 2005 Wimpys Little Step Derby Non-Pro.
Topsail Whiz • Photo by John Brasseaux
Topsail Whiz (Topsail Cody x Jeanie Whiz Bar x Cee Red) was the 1991 Lazy E Reining Classic Open Champion and a third-place finisher in the 1990 NRHA Futurity Open. He is Equi-Stat’s all-time leading sire of reining money-winners, with greater than $12 million in offspring earnings. His leading performers include The Great Whiz ($273,969), the 2003 NRHA Futurity Open Champion, and Whizard Jac ($175,293), the 1996 NRHA Futurity Open Champion.
Topsail Cody (Joe Cody x Doc Bar Linda x Doc Bar) was the 1980 NRHA Futurity Open Champion and the 1981 AQHA Junior Reining World Champion. Topsail Cody is an Equi-Stat Elite $1 Million Sire with a record of $1.6 million in progeny earnings. His leading reining money-winner is Cee Blair Sailor ($114,930). The appearance of Doc Bar at this point gives the pedigree a breeding pattern of 4 X 5 to Doc Bar when we add Doc Bar blood through Spooks Gotta Gun.
Jeanie Bar Whiz (Cee Red x Jeanie Whiz x Billy’s Whizzer) was an AQHA show mare that earned 102 points in the Youth and Open divisions. She was Superior in reining in both. In addition to reining, she earned points in barrel racing, the stake race, Western riding, tie-down roping and breakaway roping. Her sire, Cee Red, was sired by Cee Bars (Three Bars [TB] x Chicaro Annie C x Chicaro Bill). This gives the pedigree of Luckie Moonstone a breeding pattern of 5 X 5 to Cee Bars, with the second dose of this blood coming from John Gun.
My Moon Stone Chex (King Fritz x Rocky Moon x Rocky Knox) was an unshown mare and the dam of six money-earners with $321,059 in cumulative earnings. They include West Coast Whiz ($131,392), a full brother to My Lucky Moonstone. West Coast Whiz is also an Equi-Stat Elite $1 Million Sire, with more than $1.8 million to his credit.
MAGIC CROSS & A BLOOD AFFINITY
The cross of Spooks Gotta Gun on Topsail Whiz mares has produced 13 horses that have earned in excess of $312,000. The foals from that cross include Spooks Gotta Whiz. This nick made Equi-Stat’s Top 25 Reining Magic Crosses (limited to the last five years), as published in the Dec. 15, 2017 issue of Quarter Horse News. This is the top cross for Spooks Gotta Gun during this time.
When we started our look at Luckie Moonstone, we saw that there was very little duplication of ancestors in his pedigree. But, when we find a nick like that of Spooks Gotta Gun and Topsail Whiz, we often find that the stallion and mare have a common bond or a blood affinity.
The blood affinity in this cross comes from the common blood carried through Spooks Gotta Gun and Topsail Whiz. They each carry a cross to Doc Bar and Cee Bars in their respective pedigrees. This isn’t necessarily strong linebreeding, but a blood affinity they carry between the two of them. The legendary stallions Leo and Three Bars were a great magic cross, or nick. The blood affinity between these two stallions is that they carried the blood of Domino in their respective pedigrees. They represent one of the great magic crosses in the American Quarter Horse.
