DASH FOR CASH

SI 114

     Sire Line:  ROCKET WRANGLER SI 97, Champion 2 Year Old Colt, stakes winner of 10 races, $252,168, All American Futurity, Rainbow Futurity, etc.  Sire of the earners of $9,329,347 with 56 stakes winners including Dash For Cash SI 114, WAR STAR WRANGLER (SI 105, $336,463) AAMERICAN SPEED (SI 113, $270,936) etc.

     Female Line:  Find A Buyer TB, winner of $3,134.  Dam of 2 Thoroughbred winners, 7 Quarter Horse winners including DASH FOR CASH, SI 114, Run for Cash (SI 91, $2,738, dam of SISTER DASHCASH SI 99, $11,280) Rose Among Thorns (SI 85, dam of I HEAR A SYMPHONY SI 117, Champion Filly, $247,304, 1995, Blueberry Brulee SI 94, $16,878, 1995), Dashing On (SI 80, dam of GOIN STREAKIN SI 96, $38,932, CASHES IN SI 112, $36,231) etc. 

  * 1st - Champion of Champions G1 - twice, Los Alamitos Championship G1,  

    Vessels Maturity G1, Los Alamitos Derby G1, State Fair Stakes, Sun

    Country Futurity, Lubbock Downs Futurity, Jet Deck Handicap.

  * 2nd - Rainbow Derby G1, All American Derby G1.

     The all-time leading sire of racing Quarter Horses with earners of more than $39 million.  During a career spanning three years and 25 starts, he won 21 races.  First horse to win Champion of Champions back to back and the first horse in two decades to be named world champion in consecutive years.

     The 1976 Champion of Champions brought together a field that included such notables as Heza Charger, She's Precious, Mito Wise Dancer, Wanta Go and A Zure Request,  We didn't come to the races that day to see if anyone could beat Dash For Cash, he wasn't even the favorite or the second favorite in the race.  The brilliantly fast mare, She's Precious, was the even money favorite and the massive gray colt, Mito Wise Dancer was the 5-2 second favorite.

     Dash For Cash was 9-2, only the third choice in the race.  The odds meant nothing once the gates opened for there was only one horse in that Champion of Champions and it was Dash For Cash.  He didn't beat this field, he showed them in just 440 yards that they weren't now, and never again be, an equal.  When the time of 21.17 seconds was flashed on the board there was an audible gasp from the crowd.  The time was unheard of at Los Alamitos.  Jet Deck's track record of 21.5 was considered one of the sainted marks at Los Alamitos and now it was crushed under the sorrel legs of Dash For Cash.

     Dash For Cash was never beaten at Los Alamitos winning another Champion of Champions as well as the Los Alamitos Derby, Vessels Maturity and Los Alamitos Championship.  Not only was Dash For Cash never beaten at Los Alamitos, he was never behind another horse at any point of any of his races at the track.

     Dash For Cash was perfect at Los Alamitos Race Course and that is what he really turned out to be, the most perfect race horse - quarter horse, thoroughbred, you name it - to ever set foot on a track.  When Dash For Cash raced you never saw him drop a bead of sweat in the paddock.  He never so much as moved a muscle in the starting gate.  He never stumbled, he never lugged in or out an inch.  There were two things you knew when Dash For Cash raced at Los Alamitos - he wasn't going to beat himself and nobody else was going to get past him.

     When he went to stud it was selfish to think that this once in a lifetime animal could equal his racing success as a stallion, but he not only equaled his racing record in the stud, he surpassed it.  Oh, we tried to find a flow there somewhere, maybe because absolute perfection is a scary thing.  Remember when it was said that the Dash For Cash colts couldn't run like his fillies?  Anyone still think that way?  Then it was said that the sons of Dash For Cash wouldn't be sires themselves.  Not only are they sires, they are dominating the bloodlines of the sport.

     The only thing you knew Dash For Cash couldn't beat was death.  Even the most perfect things can't last forever.  But just look out on any race track and you can see Dash For Cash's perpetual racing legacy.  Then just close your eyes and you can still see him, his sorrel coat shimmering in the sunlight, as he races to yet another victory.

     Dash For Cash was inducted into the AQHA Hall of Fame and included on "Sports Illustrated's" list of 25 amazing animals, part of a summer double issue from July, 2005.