The Western Thoroughbred History: Past Due

Past Due carried the bloodlines of early twentieth-century speedsters. Although he had a limited sire record, he has had a lasting impact on racing and barrel racing through his daughters. Mares that he sired became the matriarchs of dam lines that have produced great horses such as Eddie Stinson and Coronas Leaving You.

Past Due was foaled on January 13^th, 1956. He was bred by R. S. Snedigar in Arizona. Past Due was by Be Sure Now, a son of Triple Crown winner War Admiral. Be Sure Now won ten races and placed in five black-type stakes. He sired Thoroughbred stakes winners Mystic Eye, Zip Now, Now Dear and Now Now. Be Sure Now also sired 36 AQHA registered foals. Sure Now was his highest-earning Quarter Horse racehorse. Sure Now famously outran Go Man Go in the 1955 Ruidoso Futurity. Cute Trick, a full-sister to Sure Now, was named the 1956 AQHA Racing Champion Two-Year-Old Filly after her wins in the Debut Stakes, Phoenix Quarter Horse Futurity and PCQHRA Futurity. Other Quarter Horse stakes winners by Be Sure Now included Segura Miguel, Easter Bee and Sure Girl.

Trinket Box, the dam of Past Due, was a race-winning daughter of Sweep Like. She produced four registered foals by Be Sure Now. Past Due and his three full-siblings traced multiple times to Sweep, Peter Pan and Hastings. They concentrated the blood of Domino and Ben Brush – two major contributors to the development of the Quarter Horse breed. Mystic Eye, the first foal out of Trinket Box, was successful on the racetrack. Mystic Eye won thirteen races, including the 1957 Del Mar Derby Handicap. Past Due was her second foal. Mysterian and Rue Me, her third and fourth foals, bred by Oscar L. Horany. Rue Me was the dam of Attack Force, a Thoroughbred stallion that sired a handful of Quarter Horses. Past Due was the proliferator that preserved this family of horses.

A brown horse with an uphill build, Past Due had a conformation that reflected his sprinting heritage. As a two-year-old, Past Due made five starts and won one race. At three, he won three races. He continued racing until he was five, winning races at Hollywood Park, Belmont, Aqueduct, Santa Anita and Hialeah. In total, Past Due made 29 starts, won seven races, and earned $34,550, which is the equivalent of about $325,000 today.

Past Due entered stud in 1962. He was owned by Suzanne Hawkins and stood alongside Vandy II, Little Rapid, Fly Away Faila and Alamitos Bar at Hadan Livestock Company in Lockeford, California. His first Quarter Horse foals arrived in 1963. Bro Brummel, Log Cabin Connie, Lady Be Sure, Admiral Red, Dickey Dew Drop, Dickey’s Contac, Dickey Due Time and Deferred Payment were some of his first Racing Register of Merit earners.

Harvey F. Dickey used Past Due frequently in his program. He bred Dickey’s Gem, a brown filly by Past Due and out of Connie II, that set a new track record at Sun Downs for 400 yards in 20.740 seconds. Dickey’s Gem’s official race record showed 18 wins in 87 starts. She went on to produced eight AQHA registered foals. Her best foals were Superior Race Horse Dickey’s Dream and Racing ROM earners Dickeys Fire Ruby, Alamitos Gem Dandy, Bobs Ettabo Gem and Gem For Sure.

Past Carin’, a brown Quarter Horse gelding, became his first stakes winner when he captured the 1971 Sangre de Cristo Stakes at Santa Fe in New Mexico. Past Carin’ also placed second in the Sunland Spring Derby and third in the Three Bars Handicap. He posted a career-high speed index of 103. In total, he made 126 starts, won 24 races, and earned $41,747 on the track. Past Carin’ was the chief earning Quarter Horse racehorse by Past Due. He later earned performance points also.

Past Due moved to Doyle Matthews’ farm in Bristow, Oklahoma by 1974. In 1976, Due Mee, a bay Quarter Horse stallion by Past Due, won the Chinook Futurity at Midland Downs and the Juarez Southwest International Futurity at Juarez. In total, Due Mee made 23 starts, won 7 races and earned $17,480 on the track. He went on to sire 88 AQHA registered foals.

In 1978, Kash Due, a brown Quarter Horse gelding by Past Due, set a new track record at Pleasanton for 440 yards in 22.360 seconds. The following year, he lowered that record to 22.080 seconds. Miss Due Meyers, a bay mare by Past Due, also set a new track record at Blue Ribbon Downs in 1981. Miss Due Meyers went on to produce six AQHA registered foals, including Racing ROM earners Missy Due Boone and Cashinthepocket. Her daughter Dash Forever produced barrel horses.

Other successful Quarter Horse starters by Past Due included Dickeys Patches, Line Passer, Due It Now, Miz Clementine and Miss Pastimer. Sunnys Due, a dark bay stallion that won fourteen races, was the leading Thoroughbred racehorse by Past Due. His other Thoroughbred race-winners included Phantom Hawk, Lusty Due and Amber Admiral. Past Due was also the sire of Ace Is Past Due, an APHA registered stallion that placed third in the Western Montana Fair Two-Year-Old Futurity.

Line Passer, a brown Quarter Horse gelding, was the leading performance point earner by Past Due. After he won nine races and earned a Superior Race Horse award, Line Passer earned 22.0 performance points and a Performance ROM. Bro Brummel and Dickeys Dyna Due also earned Performance ROMs after they retired from racing. Harmon Due, Ole Can Due, Due To Rule and Dickeys Crawford earned performance points too.

Altogether, Past Due sired 160 Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse foals in 20 foal crops. From this limited sire record, he had 45 race winners, 45 ROM earners, ten stakes finalists, eight Superior Race Award earners and two stakes winners. Collectively, they earned $382,201 on the track and 66.0 points in the arena.

Sons of Past Due only sired 212 AQHA registered foals. His son Outfielder was the largest contributor to that number. Past Due really made an impact through his daughters. They produced 264 Quarter Horse foals that earned $876,426 on the track and 55.0 points in the arena. Miss Past Due, a dun Quarter Horse mare, was one of his best-producing daughters. Miss Past Due was the dam of eleven AQHA registered foals. Her daughter Sheswright won twelve races, including the Las Chiquitas Handicap, Three Bars Handicap, C. L. Maddon’s Bright Eyes Handicap and two editions of the Buttons and Bows Stakes. Sheswright was the chief earner out of a Past Due mare. Her full-brother, He’swright, won the 1977 Laddie Hanicap at Los Alamitos. Ease On Down, a bay mare by Easy Jet and out of Miss Past Due, won the 1984 Marco Smolich Handicap at Sacramento. Ease On Down went on to produce Casino Lights, the dam of Eddie Stinson.

Log Cabin Connie, one of Past Due’s Performance ROM earners, produced eleven AQHA registered foals, including multiple stakes winner and track record setter Acceptable. Dickey Due Drop, a brown mare by Past Due, produced fourteen Quarter Horse foals, including multiple stakes winner Due It Every Time. Due Test, a Thoroughbred mare by Past Due, produced eight AQHA registered foals, including Al Due, winner of the 1973 Los Alamitos Derby.

Call Her Anything, another Thoroughbred mare, might have been Past Due’s most influential daughter. Call Her Anything produced nine Quarter Horse foals. When bred to Rocket Wrangler, Call Her Anything produced Rusty Rockette. Rusty Rockette won the Texas Classic Stakes and went on to produce multiple graded stakes winner Lil Bit Rusty. Lil Bit Rusty was the dam of graded stakes winners Coronas Leaving You, Beduinos Rusty and Wholelota Dash. Her best runner, Whosleavingwho, was the 2002 AQHA Racing World Champion. Lil Bit Rusty was also the second dam of Boknaai, Rustys Miracle and Valiant Lil Lady and the third dam of Favorite Cartel.

Past Due passed away in 1980 at the age of 24 years old. Despite siring few foals, he has remained relevant more than four decades after his death.

Sources: Equineline, Equibase, American Quarter Horse Association, The Quarter Horse Journal and Speedhorse Magazine