Paul H. was foaled on June 6th, 1953 in Ada, Oklahoma. He was bred by AQHA Hall of Fame inductee Marvin Barnes. Paul H. was by Three Bars, inarguably the all-time greatest Thoroughbred sire of Quarter Horses. In his 24 years at stud, Three Bars sired 575 registered Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse foals. They included 356 race winners, 354 ROM-earners, 66 stakes winners, 38 Superior Race Award earners, 29 AQHA Champions, 17 Racing Champions and 2 Racing World Champions. His offspring earned $3,612,991 on the track and 2,129.0 points in the arena. Three Bars had an exceptional ability to beget sires. Through his sons such as Barred, Bob’s Folly, Gay Bar King, Lightning Bar, Lucky Bar, Mr Bar None, Rocket Bar, Sugar Bars, Tonto Bars Gill and Zippo Pat Bars, he forever left his mark in halter, racing, cutting, barrel racing and other performance events.
Popatum, the dam of Paul H., was an unraced daughter of Last Charge. Her damsire, Roubaix, was bred in Great Britain and sent to India as a racehorse. He won the 1919 and 1920 editions of the King Emperor’s Cup at the Royal Calcutta Turf Club. He also won the Viceroy’s Cup, Asia’s most important race before World War II, in 1920 and 1921. Popatum’s pedigree combined some of the best bloodlines from the United States and Great Britian. She produced six Jockey Club registered foals. Of those six, Colorado Moon, Fortunor, Popbar, La Trap and Paul H. were race winners. Her unraced daughter Miss Raton produced Oklahoma-bred race winners Beckham Brown, Top Song and Jeston.
Paul H. made twelve starts and won four races as a two-year-old. On July 9th, 1955, he set a new track record at Fairmount Park for five furlongs in 59 seconds flat. His stallion advertisements say that he stopped racing after he bowed a tendon at two, but his official race record states that he continued racing until he was six years old. According to Equineline, Paul H. had his best season at age three. He made thirteen starts and won seven races that year. His final race record was 47 starts, sixteen wins, five seconds, and three thirds, with $22,280 in earnings, which is the equivalent of about $245,000 today.
Paul H. was 16HH and weighed 1,250 pounds when he entered stud. He was described as having a beautiful, little head and “the straightest back leg ever to be put on a horse” – a trait that was desirable for sprinting. His first foals arrived in 1961. Bonita Paul, a Quarter Horse mare bred by J. T. Webster, was among his first foal crop. She set a new track record and earned a Racing Register of Merit. His first crop also included ROM-earners Pistol Paul and Peter Pep, as well as Paul M., a stakes-placed Thoroughbred colt.
By 1967, Paul H. had been purchased by Marvin Barnes and moved back to his birthplace of Ada, Oklahoma. He sired his best Quarter Horse starter, Drake’s Lela Ann, while standing at Barnes’ ranch. Drake’s Lela Ann won the 1972 Kansas Autumn Derby in Eureka, Kansas. She also placed third in the Midway Downs D Futurity in Oklahoma. Other notable Quarter Horse racehorses by Paul H. included Superior Race Horse award earner Bar Me Joe and stakes-placed Paula Lu. Reno Paul, the best Thoroughbred starter by Paul H., won the 1969 Sun Carnival Handicap at Sunland Park in New Mexico. Other Thoroughbred stakes winners by Paul H. included Clifton Clowers, Paul H. Flare and Paulamanda.
In addition to racehorses, Paul H. also sired performance ROM-earners Paul H Trigger and Paul April. In total, Paul H. sired 178 Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse foals in fifteen foal crops. They included 69 race winners, 24 ROM-earners, six stakes finalists, five stakes winners and one Superior Race Award earner. They earned $506,642 on the track and 86.5 points in the arena. Not included in those statistics are his Paint offspring, of which Cherry Reed and Paul Bunyon won money on the track.
Baja Beremba, a Thoroughbred son of Paul H., sired 33 AQHA registered foals. His Quarter Horse sons Berando Paul, Pistol Paul and Scataway Bar sired a combined 111 AQHA registered foals. Paul Bars and Pauls Rusty Bar, Appaloosa sons of Paul H., sired several Appaloosa foals. His Paint sons Painted Paul and Paul Bunyon were successful sires. Notably, Paul Bunyon sired Bunyon Dial, a mare that produced the 2002 APHA World Champion in Junior Steer Stopping, Smokes Deuce.
As a broodmare sire, Paul H. was moderately successful. His daughters produced 224 Quarter Horse foals that earned $413,464 on the track and 87.0 points in the arena. Miss Cari County was the only Quarter Horse stakes winner out of a Paul H. mare. She won the 1982 Governor’s Cup Derby at Los Alamitos. Seebee Charge, a sorrel stallion by Heza Charger and out of Cathy Bars, by Paul H., set a new track record. Beagle and My Squaw Bug were among his grandget to earn Superior Race Horse awards. Loetta Chick, a brown mare out of a Paul H. mare, earned 66.0 halter points and a Superior Halter award. Straw Request, a sorrel gelding by Midnight Request and out of Iva Straw, by Paul H., earned a Performance ROM.
Marvin Barnes really believed in Paul H. He bred the bay stallion to his best mare, FL Lady Bug, twice. FL Lady Bug was the dam of Lady Bugs Moon. She was inducted into the AQHA Hall of Fame in 1999 and honored with an AQHA Dam of Distinction award in 2006. Her two foals by Paul H. – The Lady Bug and Miss Paula Bug – did not win much on the track, but they became great producers. The Lady Bug produced Proposed Toast, the dam of stakes finalist Valid Proposal.
Miss Paula Bug, the other Paul H. and FL Lady Bug, produced FL Fancy Bug, the 1991 APHA World Cutting Futurity Reserve Champion. FL Fancy Bug went on to sire multiple APHA World Champions. His son Bubba Can Slide was exported to Brazil where he was a leading sire of Paint horses in 2001-2004 and 2006. Bubba Can Slide sired Brazilian National Champions in Calf Roping, Team Roping, Team Penning, Barrel Racing and Reining. His best offspring included Vampeta HV, Bubba Can Play JA and Lana Skippy Cody.
Paul H.’s last foals were foaled in 1974. He descendants are still competing in racing, barrel racing, cutting, halter and more. His influence is especially strong in APHA bloodlines today!
Sources: Equineline, Equibase, American Quarter Horse Association, The Quarter Horse Journal, All Breed Database
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