Champsville was foaled on March 17th, 1967. He was bred by the co-star of the sitcom “I Love Lucy,” Desi Arnaz, and his second wife Edith Mack Hirsch, on their Thoroughbred farm in Corona, California. Champsville was by Nashville, a multiple stakes winner and sire of the AQHA Hall of Fame Inductee, Azure Te. General Scott, Lotaluck, Money Lender, and numerous other Thoroughbred sons of Nashville sired Quarter Horse, Paint and Appaloosa stakes winners. Nashville also sired Quarter Horse stallions Assured Ville and Ichibon. Champagne Tost, the dam of Champsville was by multiple stakes winner Prince Khaled and out of Play Possum, by Fighting Fox. She produced eleven foals including race winners Wayward Boy, Salud Y Pesetas, Drink to That, Exotic Sway and Bud’s Toast. Medal With Merit and Experteeser, full siblings to Champsville, also sired Quarter Horses. Notably, Experteeser sired stakes winners Te N Te Charge, Cats Expert, Miss Shuck N Jive, Nashville Red and On the Muscle Man.
Champsville broke his maiden in his first start, a five-furlong race for two-year-olds on the dirt. In his next start, which he also won, he ran the first quarter in 22 seconds, the half in 44.8 seconds, and the final five furlongs in a blazing 57.6 seconds. In the first division of the Portola Stakes, he ran the first quarter in 21.8 seconds and finished a game third. By the start of his three-year-old season, Champsville was considered to be one of the fastest performers on the West Coast. He solidified that reputation with a win in a six-furlong Allowance race at Hollywood Park in 1:08.8, just 0.6 seconds slower than the track record. He then won the Debonair Stakes and finished third in the Hollywood Express Handicap. In total, Champsville made ten starts, won five races, and earned $44,125 on the track.
Upon his retirement from racing, Champsville was purchased by Hal and Rheta Scott to stand at Cottonwood Farms in Norman, Oklahoma. He was test bred to six mares in 1972. Among his first foals was Ballichamp, a Thoroughbred race winner. His second crop included racing ROM-earners That’s Lady Champ, Champs Cottoncandy, Champ’s Joy, Folly’s Champ, Miss Sandia, Sea Great and The Cajun Champ. Mercury Moon, his best Quarter Horse starter, was foaled in 1976. Mercury Moon won twelve races and placed second in the 1979 Florida QHA Derby. Champsville also sired track record setters Pennyville and Me Champ Two. In total, his offspring won 234 races and earned $505,492 on the track.
Afterthegold, a palomino gelding by Champsville and out of After All, by Arrive, earned performance ROMs in the Open and Youth divisions. Smoking Jo Champ, a bay gelding by Champsville, also earned performance points. His most successful son in the arena was Champsville Jr., a palomino Appaloosa stallion. Champsville Jr. was the 1979 ApHC National Champion Three-Year-Old Stallion. He went on to sire numerous Appaloosa horses including The Syndicator, the1985 ApHC World Champion Three-Year-Old Stallion. Fabulous Champ and No More Champs, Quarter Horse sons of Champsville, also sired Quarter Horses and Paints.
Quarter Horse daughters of Champsville produced 258 foals that earned $788,920 on the track. His best producing daughter, Reflections, produced eight AQHA registered foals, of which six were racing ROM-earners. Her best starter, Best Six, won the 1993 Wrangler Rumble at Trinity Meadows in Willow Park, Texas. Other top producers by Champsville included Sea Great, Mysterious Bird, She’s My Style, Angel Heels, Champs Top Lady, That’s Lady Champ, Barbsville, Nansville and Summertime Promise. Mean Competitor, a sorrel gelding by Kitaman and out of Ida B. Champ, was the top earner out of a Champsville mare. He won the Minnesota 870 Classic Handicap, Canterbury Speed Handicap and Canterbury Jeep Challenge. He set two new track records and earned a Superior Race Horse award. In total, he won twenty races and earned $102,490 on the track. Other stakes winners out of Champsville mares included Im In Style and Shesafriendly Bug. Notably, some of his grandget such as Rockawin, earned money in barrel racing.
Champsville died in 1976 at the age of nine. He had only sired 138 Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse foals in five foal crops. Although he did not have the chance to make a large impact on the western industry, he still has descendants competing in racing, barrel racing and halter classes today!
Sources: Equineline, Equibase, American Quarter Horse Association, All Breed Database
The Western Thoroughbred 