Fame We Will might be one of the most accomplished Thoroughbreds to ever compete in stock horse events. The elegant bay from the bluegrass region of Kentucky competed in western pleasure, reining and cutting at events across California. This is his story.
Fame We Will was foaled on April 17th, 1959. He was bred by the Nuckols Brothers of Midway, Kentucky. Fame We Will was by I Will, a multiple stakes winning son of Roman. I Will’s biggest victories included the Great American Stakes, Wood Memorial Stakes and Princeton Handicap. He went on to sire multiple stakes winner Silver Ship. His son Bush McGinnis sired Bush Raider, a sorrel Quarter Horse gelding that set a new track record for 350 yards at Claremore Downs. I Will’s daughters Agreeable, Marica and Mine Will produced several AQHA Racing ROM-earners.
Scarlet Beauty, the dam of Fame We Will, was an unraced daughter of Jacomar, winner of the 1940 Bay Shore Handicap. Scarlet Beauty was out of Fantine, a stakes placed mare by Whichone and out of Jeanne Bowdre, by Luke McLuke, the damsire of Three Bars. Scarlet Beauty produced eight registered foals including race winners Scarlet Clover, Fly by Night and Jetspassage. Fame We Will was her only son to stand at stud.
Fame We Will was purchased by H. Fame LeSage and his wife Irene LeSage as a yearling. Fame LeSage was from Los Angeles, California. He served as a lieutenant in the Army infantry during World War I. When he returned to California, he founded the Industrial Association of San Fernando Valley. Fame was also on the advisory board of St. Joseph’s Hospital in Burbank and later Holy Cross Hospital in San Fernando. His hobbies were represented by his long-time memberships with the Los Angeles County Farm Bureau, California Thoroughbred Breeders Association and Pacific Coast Quarter Horse Association.
Fame and Irene owned Fame Farms in Clements, California. They hired Tony Diaz, a master reinsman, to manage the operation. Tony was one of the earliest horsemen to introduce Spanish training techniques to the sport of reining. He won many high-dollar stock horse events in California. His success in the show pen made him well-connected. Tony knew AQHA Hall of Fame breeders Warren Shoemaker and Hank Wisecamp and visited their operations often. One year, under Tony’s management, Fame Farms purchased the entire Shoemaker filly crop. They crossed the Shoemaker mares with Wisecamp stallions, which produced versatile horses that could win performance and halter classes.
Tony had plenty of good horses to show. This may be why he felt comfortable enough to experiment with different bloodlines. In 1960, he decided to find a Thoroughbred to train for stock horse competitions. He went to Kentucky and felt the mouths of several yearlings. He selected a bay colt because he had good, smooth bars. Fame and Irene named the colt Fame We Will. He covered six mares as a two-year-old and went to the track the following year. According to Equineline, Fame We Will made twelve starts and earned $1,040 in official races. He was far more successful in the show pen.
Tony trained Fame We Will for western pleasure, reining and cutting. The October 1964 issue of Western Horseman featured a photo of Tony and Fame We Will performing a sliding stop in a hackamore. “With Tony’s easy hands,” wrote photographer and artist Darol Dickison, “he made reining runs on this long, tall, smooth-moving stallion that were music in motion.” Tony and Fame We Will appeared in Western Horseman again the following year competing at a stock horse show and cutting cattle at Fame Farms. Although he was an unconventional western mount, Fame We Will did exceptionally well at stock horse shows across Southern California.
Fame We Willie, one of the first foals by Fame We Will, was born in 1962. He was a bay Quarter Horse stallion out of Booger Lady, a granddaughter of King. Fame We Willie won one race and earned $415 on the track. After he retired from racing, Fame We Willie and Tony Diaz won reining futurities all over the west coast. The bay stallion also won four AQHA Halter classes and earned AQHA points. Fame We Willie went on to sire 65 registered foals in seventeen foal crops. His daughter Song of Earth earned a Performance ROM. His foals We Willa, We Gabilan, We Sassy, Casey Rah Sera and Jewel Bar Too also earned performance and halter points. Echols King, a sorrel stallion by Fame We Willie, sired 58 registered foals, including Moons Roxxy Anne, the dam of APHA World Champion Working Cow Horse, Super Far Out.
In addition to Fame We Willie, Fame We Will also sired AQHA performance and halter point earners I Will Sportsman, Priss O Willie, Shasta Birds Lad and Wee Nick McCue. His best Thoroughbred starter was Special Edition, winner of seven races and $15,153, which is the equivalent of about $120,000 today. His Thoroughbred daughters Fair Moove and Will’s Image produced several race winners.
Fame We Will’s last foals were born in 1967 when he would have been eight years old. He only sired 30 registered foals. If Fame We Will was buried at Fame Farms, there would be no marker today. The beautiful barns and irrigated pastures are all developed now. Although his impact on the industry was small, Fame We Will’s show record makes him a western Thoroughbred worth remembering.
Sources: Equineline, Equibase, American Quarter Horse Association, Western Horseman, Dickinson Cattle Company
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