Esters Little Klu was foaled on April 16th, 1968. She was bred by Dan L. Williams in New Mexico. Esters Little Klu was by Big Klu, a gray stallion by multiple stakes winner Olympia. Big Klu won the 1962 Memorial Day Handicap at Ruidoso Downs. He sired Thoroughbred stakes winners Bright Ambush and Jalapeno. Big Klu also sired 53 AQHA recognized foals.
Little Ester, the dam of Esters Little Klu, was bred by John Glann Halsell Jr. She was by Eternal Reward and out of Castle Haven, by Stimulus. Little Ester made 35 starts and won seven races. She produced eight Thoroughbred foals for Dan L. Williams. Her first foal, Worridan, won 24 races, including the New Mexico Futurity, Raton Futurity, Springtime Handicap and Inspiracion Sweepstakes. In his only start against Quarter Horse company, Worridan was victorious. Worridan’s full-brother, Scatdan, also won a race against Quarter Horses. Most of Little Ester’s foals were hard-knocking competitors. Nelldan and Dan’s Reward each made at least 100 official starts. Esters Little Klu was her final foal.
As a two-year-old, Esters Little Klu made fifteen starts but was never better than second. At age three, she made six more starts against Thoroughbreds and one against Quarter Horses without hitting the board. Esters Little Klu finally broke her maiden at four years old. Her final race record was 28 starts, one win, two seconds, and one third with $1,656 in earnings.
“There wasn’t anything particularly outstanding about her,” Ben Hudson of Track Magazine told AQHA about Esters Little Klue. “She was no great looker or anything, but I just had the feeling that she was the real deal.” Her later owner Robert Driggers also told AQHA that “you could look right at her, and if somebody told you she was a Thoroughbred, you’d believe it. And if somebody told you, well, that’s a Quarter Horse, you’d believe it.”
In 1972, Robert E. Gregory bred Esters Little Klu to Bunny Bid, the 1971 AQHA Racing Champion Three-Year-Old Colt. The resulting foal, Ester’s Bunny, won four races and earned a Superior Race Horse award. Ester’s Bunny produced eleven Quarter Horse foals. Her best starter, Six To Five, was the 1992 and 1993 AQHA Racing Champion Aged Stallion. Six To Five sired 138 AQHA registered foals. Ester’s Bunny also produced Mary Major, winner of the 1989 Southwest Derby. Mary Major went on to produce Major Rime, the 1995 New Mexico Hi-Point Three-Year-Old Colt. Major Rime, sired 413 AQHA registered foals that earned over $3.3 million on the track. He was the damsire of First Moonflash, the 2009 AQHA Racing Champion Aged Stallion.
On A Bunny was probably the best-producing daughter of Ester’s Bunny. On A Bunny won the 1994 Cabeza de Vaca Handicap. Her daughter Zee James won the Gr. 2 New Mexican Spring Futurity. On A Bunny also produced Gun Battle, the 2008 New Mexico Hi-Point Aged Gelding. Gun Battle went on to have a successful second career as a barrel horse! FM Radio, a gelding by Dash Ta Fame and out of On A Bunny, won the 2009 AQHA World Championship in Junior Barrel Racing with Kassie Mowry. FM Radio won $105,451 in barrel racing. On A Bunny was also influential in the barrel horse industry through her sons Lions Share of Fame, On A Gator and Cinco Milagro.
Dusty Bunny might have outdone her sisters Mary Major and On A Bunny as a producer of producers. Dusty Bunny was the second dam of Bull Rope, the 2004 New Mexico Hi-Point Distance Horse. She was also the second dam of stakes winners Dustys Proudest, Dustys Fame, Dustys Beduino, Chicks Gray Blurr, Dash On Line, The Sunday Assassin, Rdustys Chick and Crashin Bac. Dusty Bunny was also influential in barrel horse bloodlines through her son Docs Getting Reckless and her grandson Dustys Best Effort.
Splashing Bunny, another daughter of Ester’s Bunny, produced BCR My Main Man, the 1997 California Hi-Point Aged Gelding. Splashing Bunny was also the dam of stakes winner Beat Your Pants Off. Splashing Bunny was the second dam of Chicks Boudro, the 2012 California Hi-Point Three-Year-Old Colt, as well as stakes winners Jumping Tac Flash, Splash Bac, Goinbye, Fortune First and Splash Fortune. Notably, Splashing Bunny was the third dam of four-time AQHA Racing Champion Ochoa.
March N Lady, a daughter of Real Thing and Ester’s Bunny, produced stakes winner March On Shiney. Real Karates, a full-sister to March N Lady, produced stakes winners Outdashing, Dusty Moolah and Rimes Bouquet. Real Karates was also the second dam of stakes winner Overhaulin.
In 1974, Esters Little Klu produced her only Thoroughbred foal. His name was Little Foggy and he was bred by W. Rowland Hancock in Oklahoma. Little Foggy made 34 starts and won five races. He raced until he was nine years old. Little Foggy had no recorded offspring.
Esters Little Klu’s next six foals – Esters Jet, Klus Flame, Esters Rose, Sparkling Klu, Hes Real and Im a Flame – were only moderately successful on the track and in the breeding shed. Sparkling Klu was the second dam of Chelsie Lu, 2002 Oklahoma Hi-Point Three-Year-Old Filly. In turn, Chelsie Lu produced Ghost Zapper, the 2011 Mexico Hi-Point Three-Year-Old Gelding.
Coaly Bars, Esters Little Klu’s ninth foal, was bred by E. L. Weber in Anadarko, Oklahoma. Coaly Bars was a brown mare by Real Thing. She won the 1985 Black Gold 300 Futurity and the 1986 Ladies Classic Stakes. Coaly Bars was the second dam of Coaly Bar Dash, the 1998 West/Southwest Hi-Point Three-Year-Old Filly; Heza Zippin On, the 2005 and 2006 Canada Hi-Point Claiming Horse; and The Royal Pure, the 2007 Mexico Hi-Point Claiming Horse. Coaly Bars was also the second dam of stakes winners Mega Task and Holy Coaly, as well as barrel horse sire Martis Speed Racer. Coaly Bars was the third dam of Texas Eye, winner of the 2018 North Dakota QHRA Derby.
Buggy Klu, Klus Cash and Mary Margaret – Esters Little Klu’s next three foals, were okay racehorses with no noteworthy offspring.
Her thirteenth foal, Chicagoland, was bred by Robert Driggers in New Mexico. Chicagoland was a brown gelding by Six Fortunes. He won eight races, including the 1991 Gr. 3 Santa Fe Downs Derby. With $105,702 in total winnings, Chicagoland was Esters Little Klu’s leading earner.
Esters Little Klu’s last three foals – On a Klu, Esters Way and Rime N Klu – had no major accomplishments.
Altogether, she produced sixteen foals by twelve different stallions. They won 35 races and earned $240,156 on the track. Esters Little Klu passed away in June of 1995 at the age of 27. She was inducted into the AQHA Hall of Fame in 2020. Although she wasn’t a great racehorse or a great looker, she was the matriarch of one of the most successful families of Quarter Horses.
Sources: Equineline, Equibase, American Quarter Horse Association, All Breed Database
The Western Thoroughbred 