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  First
Down Dash, si 105, is a legend! Sired by
Dash For Cash, si 114, out of
First Prize
Rose, si 98 (by Gallant Jet), First Down Dash is the World's All-Time Leading
Sire of Racing Quarter Horses!
 first
down dash is the all-time leading sire in every category. From 21
crops to race, he has sired 1,593 starters, 1,163 winners (73%), 224 stakes
winners (14%), 2134 stakes-placed (13%), and 35 champions. Through November 23,
2010, his get have earned $73,743,088 with average earnings per starter of
$46,292. He is also the #1 sire of millionaires with 11.
Among his leading money earners are champion
Ocean Runaway
($1,642,498), All American winner
No Secrets Here ($1,637,095), champion
Corona Cash
($1,542,880), champion Corona
Kool ($1,296,797), champion
Falling In Loveagain
($1,210,375), champion FDD
Dynasty ($1,173,001), world champion
A Ransom
($1,079,556), champion
A Classic Dash
($1,078,617), champion Dash Thru
Traffic ($1,056,943), champion
Royal
Quick Dash ($1,046,980), world champion
Wave Carver
($1,005,946), etc.
As
most stallions begin to "taper off" in their older years,
First
Down Dash has continued to dominate the industry.
This season he is currently the #1 leading sire of two-year-old money
earners with $2.59 million and #2 leading sire for money earners with $3.6
million.
He
has sired four grade 1 futurity winners in 2010 including
Bodacious Dash, Texas Classic Futurity(G1);
First Down Illusion,
Ed Burke Million Futurity(G1);
Givinitaroyaleffort, Heritage Place Futurity(G1); and
Hes Too Icy For Me,
Rainbow Futurity(G1).
Every single horse in the 2010 Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity(G1) field
(to be contested on December 10th) is either a son of First Down Dash, out
of a First Down Dash mare, or sired by a son or grandson of First Down Dash.
Bred in Oklahoma by A.F.
Stanley Jr., and B.F. Phillips, Jr., out of the Gallant Jet mare First Prize
Rose, First Down Dash surpassed the legacy at stud that started with his own
sire, Dash For Cash.
Mildred Vessels purchased the
phenomenal horse at the Phillips Ranch Yearling Sale in the summer of 1985
for $97,000. He was one of the first yearlings broke at the new
Vessels facility near Bonsall,
California.
Trained by Mike Robbins, at 2, the colt won five of six starts including the
grade 1 Dash For Cash and Kindergarten futurities, while earning $518,120.
Champion trainer Blane Schvaneveldt took over training duties in 1987 to
saddle the sorrel speedster to eight
wins in nine starts. Those wins included the Champion of Champions(G1),
Los Alamitos Derby(G1), QHBC Championship Classic(G1), Dash For Cash
Derby(G1) and Laddie Handicap(G2).
With 13 wins in 15 starts and
earnings of $857,256,
First
Down Dash was named the AQHA Racing World Champion,
Champion 3-Year-Old and Champion 3-year-Old Colt of
1987.
Under the guidance of Scoop Vessels, First Down Dash got off to spectacular
start as a stallion by siring the winners of the rich All American
Futurity(G1) in each of his first three crops to race.
In
1993 Vessels syndicated the stallion for $7 million, the first successful
syndication in Quarter racing industry since the late 70's early 80's. The
investor's earned tremendous returns and it opened a market for Quarter
Horse stallion syndicates that continues today.
His incredible success as a sire is also
attributable to the maternal side of
his pedigree, which connects him to
the incomparable
 FL Lady Bug. In an
article in the American Quarter Horse Racing
Journal (February 2004), Richard Chamberlain writes,
"First Down Dash exhibits much more the phenotype of his bottom side than his
top."
The
great First Down Dash stood at Vessels Stallion Farm, in
Bonsall, California, his entire stallion career. He passed away November 25,
2010, at the age of 26. Scoop Vessels, his good friend, preceded him in death.
Scoop died in a tragic accident in August of 2010
It is Circle D's honor to stand
a son of First Down Dash.
Left: First Down Dash and
Scoop Vessels, Vessels Stallion Farm, Bonsall, California (The
American Quarter Horse Racing Journal, August 2004).
Above 2 photos by Robbi Knudson.
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First Down Dash is First
Sire of the All American
Amarillo, Texas, September 3, 2006--If
any doubts about First Down Dash’s influence on American Quarter Horse
racing remain, check out the field for Monday’s $1.9 million All American
Futurity (G1) at Ruidoso Downs. All of the 10 starters in the 440-yard race
have the stallion in their pedigree, which the crew at Vessels Stallion Farm
in Bonsall, California, recognizes as a tremendous accomplishment.
“It means he is what he is,”
said farm owner and AQHA Past President Frank “Scoop” Vessels about the
22-year-old son of Dash For Cash. “He’s simply the best sire in the history
of Quarter Horse racing.”
In
the pedigree rundown for this year’s All American starters:
--
First Down Dash is the sire of First Freeze, My First Passion and fastest
qualifier No Secrets Here.
-- He is the broodmare sire of Genuine Botticelli, Mightys First Call and
Separate Bet.
-- His son Stoli sired Dont Let Down.
-- His son Dash Ta Fame sired Gun Battle.
-- His son Okey Dokey Dale sired Okey Dokey Fantasy.
-- Remember Me Rose is by Corona Cartel, whose sire, Holland Ease, is a son
of First Down Dash.
With 17 crops to race, First Down Dash also is the all-time leading sire of
American Quarter Horses by progeny earnings with more than $55.5 million. He
has sired a record five winners of the All American: Royal Quick Dash
(1991), Dash Thru Traffic (1992), A Classic Dash (1993), Corona Cash (1997)
and Falling In Loveagain (1998). Royal Quick Dash is the sire of 2002 All
American winner AB What A Runner.
Vessels said First Down
Dash’s offspring possess the uncommon intelligence and athletic ability of
their sire.
“You can breed him to those Beduino (TB) mares that might be a little
hot-blooded, and yet (the offspring) are calm, they want to learn, they want
to do good for you,” Vessels said. “Anybody can train them. That’s not the
case with a lot of horses. I think that’s one reason he’s done so well for
so many people.”
First Down Dash raced for Vessels Stallion Farm, which also has had its
share of All American success as an owner and breeder. The farm won the race
in 1973 with Timeto Thinkrich, and bred Royal Quick Dash and Dash Thru
Traffic. This year, Vessels is represented by three starters as the
co-breeder of My First Passion with Martha Wells; the breeder of No Secrets
Here, whom Vessels co-owns with Benny Rosset; and as the breeder of Separate
Bet.
“To
be able to see him every day is really special,” Vessels said. “Both Bonnie
(Vessels’s wife) and I try very hard not to miss a time when we can stop by
and see him. He’s very much a member of the family.”
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