Jackstraw Jr. was foaled on April 9th, 1961. He was bred by A. B. Munsey in New Mexico. Munsey stood his sire, Jackstraw, to Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse mares in Farmington near the Four Corners. Jackstraw was by Silver Horde and out of Absurdity, by Pagan Pan. He had Luke McLuke, the damsire of Three Bars, on both sides of his pedigree. Jackstraw was a hard-knocking warhorse. During the World War II era, he made 111 starts and won 33 races at tracks across the United States and Mexico. In 1946, he set a track record for 5 ½ furlongs at the Hipodromo de las Americas in Mexico City. The record stood for over two decades before it was lowered by Beduino. Munsey saved Jackstraw from slipping into obscurity. Had Munsey not tracked down Jackstraw when his owner, A. W. Howard, passed away, the stallion wouldn’t have gone on to sire two AQHA World Champions – Fly Straw and Straw Flight.
Sweet Treat, the dam of Jackstraw Jr., was by Call Bell, a stakes-winning son of Alibhai. Sweet Treat won ten races and placed second in the 1955 Ruidoso Thoroughbred Futurity. She produced four Thoroughbred foals for Munsey. Sweet Treat’s highest earner was Sweet Straw, a full-sister to Jackstraw Jr. Sweet Straw won five races and earned $6,887 on the track. She produced Quarter Horse race winners Bonofide Bolo and Straw Bolo, as well as Royal Ror, a stakes-placed Thoroughbred stallion. Treat Me, an unraced mare by Norooz and out of Sweet Treat, produced twelve Thoroughbred foals. Her first foal, Oh T., sired a handful of Quarter Horses and Paints. Treat Me also produced stakes winner Gypsy Treat. Treat Straw, the last full-sister to Jacktraw Jr., placed second in the Graduation Stakes and third in the Princess Stakes at Juarez in 1965. She has no Thoroughbred or Quarter Horse offspring on record.
On December 6th, 1963, Jackstraw Jr. won his debut in a maiden race for Quarter Horses at Sunland Park. Two weeks later, he placed second in an Allowance race against Quarter Horse company. It is worth noting that during the 1950s and 60s, Thoroughbreds were allowed to enter Quarter Horse races in New Mexico. That is how Jackstraw Jr. earned an official Speed Index of 95 and a Register of Merit with the AQHA. As a three-year-old he won one Thoroughbred race. At four, he did not hit the board. In total, Jackstraw Jr. made seventeen official starts, won two races, and earned $2,183, which is the equivalent of about $22,000 today.
Jackstraw Jr. sired his first foals while he was still racing in New Mexico. Quarter Horse breeders in the southwest considered him to be one of the most perfectly conformed Thoroughbreds of all time. He stood 15.3 hands and weighed 1,290 pounds. He had an elegant head and neck that tied smoothly into his massive shoulder. His short back and straight hip made him an ideal stockhorse sire. One of his first foals, Double L Straw, won three races and finished third in the 1967 Kansas Futurity before he began his show career. Double L Straw earned 40.0 halter points, 8.0 performance points and an AQHA Champion designation. He went on to sire 674 AQHA registered foals, including notable halter horses Dan L Straw, El Pajote, Mr Strawberry Pie, Panama Straw, Straw Afire, Way Out West and Jokers Double L Straw.
Straw Bar Reed, Vandella Straw, Sugar Straw and Miss Vandy Straw were Jackstraw Jr.’s first racing Register of Merit earners. By 1967, the chestnut stallion had been purchased by Arthur Carpenter and moved to Butler, Oklahoma. There, he sired his first stakes winner, Paragon Nu Straw, winner of the 1971 Shiloh Derby at Blue Ribbon Downs in Sallisaw, Oklahoma. The following year, he sired Jody’s Straw, winner of the 1972 Anticipation Derby at La Bahia Downs in Goliad, Texas. Sherry Straw, a Quarter Horse filly by Jackstraw Jr. and out of Tee Chica, by Tee McCue, set two new track records at Glendale Downs. She ran 220 yards in 12.110 seconds and 330 yards in 17.030 seconds. Stakes placed horses by Jackstraw Jr. included Anita Straw, Jackstraw Go and Scoop Jack.
Jackstraw 3, one of the best performers by Jackstraw Jr., was foaled in 1969. Jackstraw 3 earned 37.0 halter points and 334.0 performance points. He earned Performance ROMs in the Open and Youth divisions. He also earned a Superior Western Pleasure award. Billi Jackstraw and Jackie Lou Cody, sorrel mares by Jackstraw, also earned Superior Western Pleasure awards in the Open division. Call Me Three, a sorrel stallion by Jackstraw Jr. and out of Figure 8 Bars, by Sugar Bars, earned a Superior Halter award and an AQHA Champion designation. Call Me Three went on to sire 150 AQHA registered foals, including outstanding performers Call Me Charles, an AQHA Champion; Call Me Dutch, a Superior Western Pleasure award earner; and Call Me Scotty, a Reserve World Champion.
Master Straw and Piece of Straw, sorrel stallions by Jackstraw Jr., also earned AQHA Champion designations. Piece of Straw earned a Superior Halter award and a Performance ROM as well. He went on to sire 100 AQHA registered foals. Nojack, a gray gelding by Jackstraw Jr., earned Superior Halter awards in the Open and Youth divisions. He also earned a Performance ROM and 195.0 total points.
In 1977, Jackstraw Jr. was purchased by John Moore Jr. of Muldrow, Oklahoma. He sold again to Garner Mattingly of De Witt, Iowa in 1982. It was in Iowa that he sired his leading point earner, Skippastraw Bill. The sorrel gelding was a two-time Youth World Champion in Hunter Hack with Lindsay Urbani. He earned Performance ROMs in the Open, Amateur and Youth divisions. Skippastraw Bill earned 869.0 total points. He also earned $2,117.50 with the National Snaffle Bit Association and $6,148.41 in AQHA Incentive Funds.
Jackstraw Jr.’s daughters Shine In Straw and Ima Straw Doll were National Cutting Horse Association money earners. Coors Harvest, a sorrel gelding by Jackstraw Jr., earned money in the National Reining Horse Association. Other Performance ROM earners by Jackstraw Jr. included Super Straw, Straw Money, Lightning Straw, Call Me Straw, Money Kid, Mean Jo King, Native Moonstraw, Be Be Straw, Jackie Tardy, Jack Bottom, Candees Skippy and Diamond Jack Straw.
In total, Jackstraw Jr. sired 255 Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse foals in 23 foal crops. They included 61 ROM earners, 42 race winners, fourteen stakes finalists, three Superior Race Award earners and two stakes winners, with earnings of $127,357 on the track. He also sired four AQHA Champions and one World Champion. His offspring earned 2,457.5 total points in the arena. Not included in those statistics are his Appaloosa offspring, of which, Jackstraw was the most successful. He was the 1987 Senior Western Pleasure World Champion.
Double L Straw, Call Me Straw, Piece of Straw and Lightning Straw were his best sons at stud. His sons Hardlicks, Master Straw, Barefoot Straw, Be Be Straw, Diamond Jack Flash, Straw Arrow and Straw Bar Reed sired a few dozen foals while What A Straw, Paragon Nu Straw, Jack Allen Straw and Jacoa sired a handful.
Daughters of Jackstraw Jr. produced 308 AQHA registered foals. His Quarter Horse grandget earned $147,633 on the track. They included 28 races winners, two stakes winners and one Superior Race Award earner. Mr Diamond Straw, the highest earner out of a Jackstraw Jr. mare, won nine races and earned $18,895 on the track. Sherry Straw, a daughter of Jackstraw Jr., produced stakes winners Diamonds N Lace and Johnny Done Gone. Rebecca Boone, a bay mare by Johnny Boone and out of Miss Vandy Straw, set a new track record.
Jackstraw Jr.’s grandget really excelled in the show pen. Miss Straw Breeze, a sorrel mare by Breeze Tease and out of Miss Natstraw, by Jackstraw Jr., was the 2002 Youth Breakaway Roping World Champion. She also earned a Superior Breakaway Roping award and a Performance ROM. Distinctly Straw Ben, a sorrel gelding by Distinction and out of Benita Straw, earned 289.5 total points. He was a two-time All-Around winner and a Grand Champion Gelding at halter. KC Bj and the Burner, The Prime Minister and Kneehi to Impress, geldings out of Jackstraw Jr. mares, earned multiple Grand Champion Gelding titles. Miss Precedence Maid, a sorrel mare by Precedence and out of Miss Straw Maid, by Jackstraw Jr., was a three-time Grand Champion Mare and Superior Halter award winner. Ima Impressive Maid, a brown mare out of Maid of Straw, a Thoroughbred daughter of Jackstraw Jr., was also a Grand Champion Mare. Altogether, his grandget earned 1,093.0 points in the arena. They also earned $89,644 in the NCHA. Those top performers were Mr Oak Straw, Straw Lynx, Maiden Oak and Silk Storm. Hollywoods Cutter, Scotty Straw and Range Cruiser earned money in the NSBA.
Jackstraw Jr.’s last foals were born in 1988 when he would have been 27 years old. He died under the ownership of Garner Mattingly in De Witt, Iowa. The last AQHA registered foal out of a Jackstraw Jr. mare hit the ground in 2010. Even though he was born more than six decades ago, Jackstraw Jr. still has grandget competing today!
Sources: Equineline, Equibase, American Quarter Horse Association, The Quarter Horse Journal, All Breed Database
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