Leading Paint racing sire Texas Hero retired, given back to
Graham Farms
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Texas Hero graces the cover of the March 1994 Paint Horse Journal
following his successful futurity year. Photo courtesy PHJ.
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FORT WORTH, Texas—It was announced recently that one of the leading Paint racing
sires, Texas Hero, is retiring from the breeding shed. The latest development is
that the horse has been given to the original breeders/owners Herb and Ginger
Graham who helped make this horse a legend in the Paint racing industry on the
track as well as off. Now that his final breeding year has been completed at
Bowlan Farms in Oklahoma, he will spend his retirement years at the Graham’s
horse farm in Gardendale, Texas.
The deal was struck through a conversation between Linda Bowlan and Ginger
Graham while talking about this top stallion. After Linda Bowlan mentioned the
conversation to her son, attending veterinarian to Texas Hero, Chuck Bowlan, he
spoke with the current owner, Buddy Albin of Denton, Texas, about the
possibility of sending him to the Graham’s for retirement.
"We were prepared to bring Texas Hero home to our farm," said Albin. "But,
my wife and I felt this was the right thing to do, like completing the circle
for Texas Hero. We thought it was important, and we know he will have a very
good life there."
Texas Hero was bred and born on the Graham’s farm, sired by Raise A Jet and a
mare they purchased from R. D. Hubbard, Breakaway Baby. The dam is a half-sister
to Lord Winsalot, the 1976 Quarter Horse World Champion 2-Year-Old Gelding who
earned more than $400,000 during his career. Texas Hero was her second foal. Her
first foal was Raise Cash, who earned the 1992 APHA Champion Breeding Stock
2-Year-Old award.
Texas Hero was noticed by many while maturing at the Graham’s farm, but once the
flashy colt entered training he really made heads turn. His first training race
was won by about five lengths, with G. R. Carter aboard. The racing career that
Texas Hero had was second to none. Trained by top Paint trainer Lewis Wartchow,
who said about the flashy stallion, "People said he ran the excuses out of
racing." Texas Hero had encountered it all and prevailed. He went on to win 18
of 22 outs, with 7 stakes wins including the Speedhorse Futurity, PSBA Futurity,
the Pot O’Gold Futurity, Red River Futurity, Texas-bred Paint and Appaloosa
Maturity, PSBA Derby, Oklahoma Paint Maturity and the APHA National
Championship. His performances in the Oklahoma Paint Futurity trials and finals
were where Texas Hero became a legend. In the trials, he broke the all-breed
record at 330 yards. Then in the finals, he broke first and won by three lengths
with jockey Roy Brooks aboard. He earned a total of $100,402 on the track and
won the 1993 and 1994 World Champion Running Paint Horse awards. In 1993, he was
the third Paint horse in history to top the $100,000 mark.
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Herb Graham shows off Texas Hero at the Graham Farm in 1994. Photo
courtesy PHJ.
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"He was an incredible race horse. He could break bad and still outrun them,"
said jockey Roy Brooks. "He had a good temperament and I really can’t say enough
good things about him. He is a great horse."
Texas Hero was not only an impressive horse on the track, he was an impressive
sire. This will continue into the future with these last few foal crops, and the
mares by him. He has proven to be a top broodmare sire. At this time, he has
close to 400 registered foals, including an APHA Reserve World Champion Barrel
Racing award for Horse Moon Run, APHA World Champion Running Horse Texas Wildcat
and broodmare sire of World Champion Running Horse Shez Showin Off, along with
numerous Champions. He was the first Paint Horse whose get topped the $2 million
mark in 2004 and was the first to top $3 million in get earnings in 2007. At
this time, his offspring have earned $3,307,932, and won 359 races including 47
stakes races, out of 274 race starters.
The Graham’s expect Texas Hero to arrive back at their farm shortly, where he
will have a paddock to graze in during the day and a large stall to return to at
night.
"We are really happy to have him home," said Ginger Graham. "I’m sure he will
know the place when he gets here."
More about Paint Horse racing
Horse racing has long been one of America’s favorite spectator sports. With the
recent growth of the Paint Horse breed, it’s no wonder that Paints have become one
of the hottest tickets in the horse racing industry.
Since 1966, when APHA officially recognized the sport, Paint racing has made major
strides forward. In that inaugural year, 17 starters ran for $1,290 in just two
states—Texas and Oklahoma. In 2009, more than 540 starters competed in more than
530 APHA-recognized races for record purses totaling more than $4.7 million.
A total of 17 states now feature Paint racing, including Arizona, California, Colorado,
Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon,
South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. Paint Horses also race in Canada.
"With a wealth of top performing Paint racehorses, dedicated owners and talented
trainers and jockeys, Paint Racing continues to remain a strong program in the horse
industry," said APHA Executive Director Lex Smurthwaite. "Paint Racing enthusiasts
recognized the amount of purse money available and have jumped in to take advantage
of the lucrative payouts."
For more information on Paint Horse racing, contact APHA’s racing department at
(817) 222-6444, email racing@apha.com, or visit
paintracing.com.