Wandering Boy is among an elite group of Thoroughbreds that have held the World Record for a quarter mile. The American Quarter Horse Association has not recognized World Records or allowed Thoroughbreds to enter important Quarter Horse stakes since the 1970s, so there will be no new members of that exclusive club.
Wandering Boy was foaled on April 23rd, 1959. He was bred by Rudy B. Krize in Arizona. His sire, Be Sure Now, was by 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.
Thoroughbred sons of Be Sure Now, most notably Father John, Past Due and Sure Czech, sired nearly 800 AQHA recognized foals. Real Gone, Real Sure and That’s For Sure, his most successful Quarter Horse sons, sired roughly 300 AQHA registered foals. Notably, That’s For Sure was the damsire of AQHA Racing World Champion Truckle Feature. Daughters of Be Sure Now were also excellent producers. Steamed Up, a Thoroughbred mare by Be Sure Now, was honored as an AQHA Dam of Distinction after she produced Steam To Go, the 1964 AQHA Racing Champion Two-Year-Old Filly, Whataway To Go, the 1969 AQHA Racing Champion Two-Year-Old Filly, and stakes winners Music Note and Off Limits. Other Quarter Horse stakes winners out of Be Sure Now mares included Junior’s Doll, Suki Tadre, Sure ‘N Begorra, Rue Free, Be Sure Ole Lady, The Moonshiner and Johnnie Reb.
Kay C Nan, the dam of Wandering Boy, was bred by Arch West in Arizona. She was by Just Again, an unraced son of Ariel. Just Again was the sire of 43 AQHA recognized foals. His Quarter Horse sons Just Tops and Volver sired 100 AQHA registered foals. Kay C Nan was double-bred Ariel through her damsire, Arigotal. She won four races and earned $3,739 on the track. Kay C Nan produced six Thoroughbred foals in the state of Arizona. She also produced a Quarter Horse by My Leo named Blubomber. All her recorded foals were race winners. Kancity Kitty and Wandering Boy were stakes winners.
Under the ownership of his breeder Rudy B. Krize and trainer Richard Hazelton, Wandering Boy won the 1961 Ruidoso Thoroughbred Futurity in New Mexico. He also placed third in the Juvenile Handicap. As a three-year-old, he won just four of his 25 official starts. In 1963, Wandering Boy was described as a “speed-geared grey colt” after he defeated Arizonan in a winner-take-all match race at Turf Paradise in Phoenix. He then traveled to the Midwest where he set his first track record for 4 furlongs in 45.8 seconds at Hazel Park near Detroit. The following year, Wandering Boy ran second in the Phoenix Gold Cup Handicap. He also defeated Tony Burke, Quarter Horse son of Leo Tag, in a 300-yard match race at Turf Paradise. He then traveled back east where he set another track record at Hazel Park for 3 ½ furlongs in 40.6 seconds and equaled the track record for 5 furlongs in 58.4 seconds at River Downs outside of Cincinnati.
As a six-year-old, Wandering Boy set three track records. The first was at Turf Paradise for 2 furlongs in 21.4 seconds. He later lowered that record to 21.2 seconds, which was recognized as the World Record for a quarter mile at the time. He also traveled to Ohio where he set a new track record at Thistledown for 4 ½ furlongs in 52.4 seconds. At the age of seven, he won four races and placed third in the Quick Step Stakes at Randall Park near Cleveland. When Wandering Boy finally retired from racing at age eight, his official race record was 89 starts, 28 wins, 16 seconds and 15 thirds, with $80,599 in earnings, which is the equivalent of about $780,000 today.
Wandering Boy’s first foals hit the ground in 1965 while he was in the middle of his record-setting streak. Wandering Kid, one of his first Thoroughbred foals, placed second in the 1967 Spring Arizona Breeders’ Futurity at Turf Paradise, which means that Wandering Boy and his first starter were racing at the same track at the same time. Two years later, Wandering Herbie became his first stakes winner when he claimed the 1969 Arizona Breeders’ Futurity. His best Thoroughbred starter, Mr. Tattoo, set a new track record in the 1972 Governor’s Handicap at Ruidoso Downs. Mr. Tattoo won a total of eighteen races and earned $76,081 on the track. He went on to sire a handful of Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse foals, including Flipper Star, the horse that gave Bob Baffert his first win as a Thoroughbred trainer. Other Thoroughbred stakes winners by Wandering Boy included Be Sure Boy and Jackie Be Sure.
When Wandering Boy left the track and officially entered stud, he stood 16.2 hands and weighed nearly 1,400 pounds. He stood at the Jenson Ranch near Norman, Oklahoma. His best Quarter Horse starter, Wandering Sal, was a gray mare bred by Charles Jenson’s First Call Farms. Wandering Sal won the 1976 Beginners Luck Futurity and the 1977 Indiana State Fair Derby. Wandering Sal went on to produce five-time stakes Make Me Rich, as well as Racing Register of Merit earners Jet To Fame and Sals Derby Rose.
Wandering Boy also sired Sure Warrior, winner of the 1976 Spring Fever Derby at Pocatello Downs in Idaho, and I’m Leavin, winner of the 1979 Two Dollar A Yard Stakes at the Illinois State Fair. Other notable Quarter Horse starters by Wandering Boy included Sonic Quest, who set a new track record at Jefferson Park for 400 yards in 20.29 seconds, as well as Superior Race Horse award earners Sonic Boy and Gutherie’s Boy.
Little Wander, a brown gelding by Wandering Boy and out of Jo Alegre, by Crockett’s Lucky Joe, made seventeen starts and won three races before beginning his show career with Terri McFarlane. Terri and Little Wander placed tenth in Open Senior Working Hunter at the 1984 AQHA World Show. They also placed sixth in the Youth Senior Working Hunter. They returned to the World Show the following year where they placed eighth in Open Senior Working Hunter, fifth in Youth Working Hunter and fifth in Youth Hunter Hack. Little Wander earned Superior awards in Working Hunter and Hunter Hack. In total, He earned 381.5 points in the arena.
Wandering Boy’s next highest point earner was I’m Sure Now, a brown gelding out of Blueberry Anna, by Double Joe H. I’m Sure Now earned Superior awards for Barrel Racing in the Open and Youth divisions. Me A Wandering, a gray gelding by Wandering Boy, placed seventh in Heading at the 1976 World Show in the Youth division. Other Performance Register of Merit earners by Wandering Boy included Wandering Red, Taffy’s Joe Boy, Wandering Ike and Wandering Imp.
Altogether, Wandering Boy sired 248 Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse foals in thirteen foal crops. They included 102 race winners, 64 ROM-earners, sixteen stakes finalists, seven stakes winners and five Superior Race Award earners. Altogether, they earned $1,171,520 on the track and 757.0 points in the arena.
Denio, a gray Quarter Horse stallion that earned ROMs on the track and in the arena, was Wandering Boy’s most successful son at stud. He sired 93 AQHA registered foals. Sure Warrior, I’m Leavin, Wandering Blitz and Wandering Red also sired a few AQHA and APHA registered foals.
Daughters of Wandering Boy produced 385 Quarter Horse foals that earned $986,018 on the track and 811.5 points in the arena. Stakes winners out of Wandering Boy mares included Miss Wandering Jet, Kenneys Sam, Pinball Wizard, Chicks Moving Man, Wandering Wild, Panama For Sure and Aftons Wanderbar. His grandget set thirteen track records. Among the record setters were Opera Chick, Miss Whirlaway Jet and Canadian Honor.
Just Plain Tom, a plain bay gelding by Chris’ Don Bar, was the leading point earner out of a Wandering Boy mare. He placed in Working Hunter at the World Show in 1983, 1985 and 1988. Royal Dreamer, a gray gelding by Royal Intent and out of Wandering Miss, by Wandering boy, also placed at the 1983 World Show in Hunter Under Saddle. In 2001, Christine Bryant and Sheza Card, a gray mare by Deal the Cards and out of Wandering Gem, by Wandering Boy, placed seventh in the Amateur division of Barrel Racing at the World Show. Sheza Card earned Superior awards for Barrel Racing and Pole Bending. Other Performance ROM earners out of Wandering Boy mares included Im Glory Bound, Masters Best Yet and Bux for the Road.
Wandering Boy’s last foals were born in 1977 when he would have been eighteen years old. He died under the ownership of Henry L. Franke in Moore, Oklahoma. The Wandering Boy bloodline seems to have virtually died out, except for a family of barrel horses sired by Hutt Six, one of his grandsons. Hutt Six was a race-winning Quarter Horse bred by Donald Ralstin. The Hutt Six Memorial Barrel Race in Shawnee, Oklahoma was named after him because of his influence on the sport. Hutt Six sired 23 barrel racing money earners, including Nik Dell, Hutts Venger, Hutts Belle Bay, Orlean Southernbelle, CJs Money Hutt and Hutts Darah Shay. Streakin Again, his most successful son at stud, was a three-time Top Ten finisher in Barrel Racing at the World Show. Streakin Again stood at Laurie Phillips’ LLP Horse Farm where he sired more than 150 barrel horses. Most horses with the LLP brand trace back to Wandering Boy.
Sources: Equineline, Equibase, The American Quarter Horse Association, All Breed Database
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