Fleet Kirsh was foaled on May 13th, 1966. He was bred by Mr. and Mrs. Robert F. Bickenbaugh in California. Fleet Kirsch was by Fleet Nasrullah, one of the fastest sons of Nasrullah. Fleet Nasrullah won eleven races, including the Westchester Stakes, Lakes and Flowers Handicap and San Pasqual Handicap. Fleet Nasrullah also set new track records in the Californian Stakes at Santa Anita Park and Hollywood Premiere Handicap at Hollywood Park.
Fleet Nasrullah stood at Old English Rancho in California and later Spendthrift Farm in Kentucky. He sired at least one Quarter Horse, a bay stallion named Fleet Tinker. His Thoroughbred sons Boyarsky, Caribbean, Distant Day, Dusty Canyon, Easily Best, Electric Flag, Exalted Rullah, Fleet Action, Fleet Beau, Fleet Discovery, Gallant Fleet, Militiaman, Millionaire, Peaceful World, Ready Say Go, Refiner, Times Three and Victory Boy also sired Quarter Horses. His son Rullah Thumb sired Thumb Print, the 1975 ApHC Champion Two-Year-Old Sprint Colt.
Royal Kirsch, the dam of Fleet Kirsch, was an unraced daughter of Royal Charger, winner of the 1946 Queen Anne Stakes. Royal Charger stood at the Irish National Stud before he was purchased by George D. Widener Jr. and imported to the United States to stand at Old Kenney Farm in Lexington, Kentucky. Royal Charger was a highly influential stallion. He sired champions Idun, Mongo and Royal Native, as well as leading sire Turn-To.
Daughters of Royal Charger produced more than 70 stakes winners, including Crowned Prince, Tudor Queen and Majestic Prince. Royal Kirsch was one of those stakes-producing daughters. She produced one foal for Mrs. John L. McMahan in Kentucky before she sold to Mr. and Mrs. Robert F. Bickenbaugh. She produced five foals for the Bickenbaughs, including black-type placed winner Pappa Ray. Royal Kirsch produced her eighth and final foal, Be Royal, at Hi-Lo Ranch in California when she was 22 years old. Fleet Kirsch was her best starter.
On June 20th, 1968, Fleet Kirsch ran second in the Portola Stakes at Hollywood Park. A month later, he won his first stakes race – the $100,000 Hollywood Juvenile Championship. At the end of August, he won the Futurity Trial Stakes at Del Mar. Two weeks later, he ran second in the Del Mar Futurity Stakes. As a three-year-old, Fleet Kirsch won the Golden Bear Stakes at Golden Gate in Albany, California. He also placed second in the Debonair Stakes at Hollywood Park. Fleet Kirsch won his last race at age five. In total, he made 19 starts, won 5 races, and earned $178,375 on the track, which is the equivalent of about $1.4 million today.
Fleet Kirsch was owned by the Lincoln Land Farm. He stood at Oklahoma Stud in Purcell, Oklahoma and was managed by Jack and Marilyn McReynolds. His conformation and speed made him a desirable outcross for Quarter Horse mares. His first foal crop arrived in 1973. Silver’s Fleet, a sorrel Quarter Horse gelding, was his first stakes winner. Silver’s Fleet won the 1975 Los Ninos Handicap at Los Alamitos. Happy Olympian, a dark bay stallion, became his first Thoroughbred stakes winner when he captured the 1976 Juvenile Championship Stakes at Longacres.
Some Romance, a brown mare out of Go Maggie Go, a stakes-placed daughter of Go Man Go, was Fleet Kirsch’s best Quarter Horse starter. Some Romance won five races, including the 1978 Bay Meadows Futurity. She also placed second in the Kindergarten Futurity. Some Romance went on to produce sixteen AQHA registered foals.
Some Dasher, a brown stallion bred by the Liston Aluminum Brick Co. in Texas, was the best starter out of Some Romance. Some Dasher was by two-time World Champion Dash for Cash. Some Dasher won the 1993 Heritage Place Derby (Gr. 1) and was named the AQHA Racing Champion Three-Year-Old Colt. He went on to sire 549 AQHA registered foals that earned over $3.2 million on the track. Some of his notable offspring included A Dash of Mairi, Dasher Winner, Durability, Free to Dash, MCM Dozen Dasher, MCM Easy Dasher, On Black Ice, JP Streak and Some Dashing Dude. Some Dasher was also the damsire of 1D barrel horses Calfee Stormy Dash and Some Streakin French. He is also the damsire of freshman sire Goodbye Bugs.
In addition to Some Dasher, Some Romance also produced Throb, a multiple stakes winner, as well as Racing ROM earners BCR Down the Hatch, Some Power Play, Easily Romanced, Some Champion Jet, Romance Me Easy, Key to Romance, Hollywood Romance and Storm Run. Her daughter All Heads Turn produced track record setter All Heads Up. Her son Power of Romance sired 166 AQHA registered foals, including Romancing Suzy, the dam of 1D barrel horse Suzytresseis.
Additional stakes winners by Fleet Kirsch included Lilly Dache and Mia Serena. In 1979, Lilly Dache won the Gator Derby and Debutante Stakes at Pompano Park. She went on to produce three Racing ROM earners – Captain Cognac, Alternate Fuel and Lillys Effort. In 1981, Mia Serena, a chestnut Thoroughbred mare, won the Spring and Fall editions of Scotch Foursome Lassie Stakes at La Mesa Park. Mia Serena’s Thoroughbred foals Maria Tallchief and Schmoker were race winners.
Double Kirsch, a bay stallion out of a daughter of Double Bid, was Fleet Kirsch’s leading performance point earner. Double Kirsch earned a Performance Register of Merit in 1981. Fleet Kirsch’s sons Billy Rydalch and Fleeting Fame also earned Performance ROMs. Fleet Alert and Ima Reber earned Performance Points.
Altogether, Fleet Kirsch sired 137 Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse foals in seven foal crops. They included 83 race winners, 66 ROM earners, 20 stakes winners, 5 stakes winners and 3 Superior Race Award earners. They earned $1,250,853 on the track and 73.0 points in the arena.
Sons of Fleet Kirsch sired nearly 300 AQHA registered foals. Fleeting Fame, Our Mandate, Casino Boogie, The Apple Fleet and Shades of Noor were the biggest contributors to that number.
Daughters of Fleet Kirsch produced 375 AQHA recognized foals. They earned $2,142,349 on the track and 524.0 points in the arena. Some Romance was his best producing daughter. His daughter Fleety First produced fifteen AQHA registered foals, including graded stakes winners Sunset John and Im A Sunset Frist. Pullafastone, a black mare by Fleet Kirsch, produced nine AQHA registered foals, including multiple stakes winners Pullastreak and Pulladash. Other stakes winners out of daughters of Fleet Kirsch included Hot Wheel Lee, Costalotta, Customize, Fleet Decker Bar, Oh Sweet Sinn, Bardora Bud and Reasonable Request.
Xylophone, a brown gelding by Experteeser and out of Please Come Home, was the chief point-earner out of a Fleet Kirsch mare. Xylophone was the 1989 Junior Hunter Hack World Champion. He also qualified for the World Show in Hunt Seat Equitation, Working Hunter and Equitation Over Fences. Xylophone earned a Superior Working Hunter award in the Open and Amateur divisions. Other Performance ROM earners out of Fleet Kirsch mares included Casanovas Fleet and Keen N Mean.
It’s impossible to overstate the impact that daughters of Fleet Kirsch had on the Quarter Horse racing and barrel racing industries. His daughter Fleet Anne was the third dam of leading sire Game Patriot. His daughter Feelin Foxy was the second dam of Future Fortunes and Triple Crown stallion Crownroyal Frenchman. Last year, three barrel horses that helped their riders qualify for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo traced back to Fleet Kirsch in three different ways. Fleet Kirsch’s daughter She Two was the fourth dam of Carlee Otero’s horse Luckys Champagne Guy, aka “Maverick.” His daughter Miz Disco Chick was the third dam of the sire of Tayla Moeykens horse Dash of Blue Sky, aka “Blue.” Miz Disco Chick was also the second dam of KS Cash N Fame, the sire of Hayle Gibson Stillwell’s horse Smiling N Ta Fame, aka “Sharky.” KS Cash N Fame also sired Nellie Williams Miller’s World Champion barrel horse Rafter W Minnie Reba, aka “Sister.”
Fleet Kirsch passed away in 1978 at the age of 12. It is hard to imagine the impact that he could have had if he had more years at stud.
Sources: Equineline, Equibase, American Quarter Horse Association, The Quarter Horse Journal, All Breed Database
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