YellowJersey TM

McQuay Stables Purchase Yellow Jersey

YellowJersey TMYellow Jersey & Tim McQuay • Photo by Ben RadvanyiA new chapter in McQuay Stables history has come to Tioga, Texas, in the form of a palomino stallion that will become the headliner for the legendary breeding and training facility. Yellow Jersey will be the newest in an exemplary group of stallions that have been owned and promoted by Tim and Colleen McQuay.

By Wimpys Little Step and out of Ms Clara Melody, Yellow Jersey has earned $111,000 in reining competition. He was a 2007 National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) Futurity finalist, and he was also shown successfully in Europe before returning to the United States in 2010.

Tim McQuay really got to know the stallion when he rode him at the 2013 Kentucky Reining Cup, and said, “The biggest thing that sold me on him was riding him – he’s so great minded and easy to be around and there’s not a maneuver that is hard for him to do. He is so talented and comfortable to ride and I think that will pass on.”

The prowess of his sire was a given, and McQuay rode his dam’s sire, Mr Melody Jac, to win the 1988 NRHA Futurity.

“Mr Melody Jac was very good to me and I love the Hollywood Jac 86 bloodlines, so this pedigree also works for what I like,” McQuay said.  “We hope to make breeding the priority, but I do think there’s a lot of show horse left if we did decide to show [Yellow Jersey] in International competition.”

Those are choices to be made, but blueprint for Yellow Jersey’s future is one that worked for his predecessors. McQuay has long been a tireless advocate for his stallions – persuading owners of top mares to breed to them even before they were proven. He monitors the foal crops, visiting other farms to see the babies and he carefully reviews the cross for each family of mares. The goal throughout has been to give the foals a chance for success by making sure they get trained and shown. If a foal was exceptional and not headed for a top trainer’s barn, he’d often buy it himself.

With Hollywood Dun It’s passing, a clear choice was made to acquire Colonels Smoking Gun (Gunner), whose genetics seemed to be a perfect cross on Hollywood Dun It daughters. The blending of the two bloodlines connected their generations, and now the McQuays think Yellow Jersey will be a viable cross on their Gunner broodmares and a transition to the future.

Colleen McQuay said, “We’ll always keep ‘Dun It’ and Gunner in our hearts; it is nice to see Yellow Jersey in the front paddock where they once grazed.”

The McQuays were quick to thank former owners, Robert Thompson and Lisa Coulter. Tim said, “We appreciate the opportunity to own this horse.”

For more information on McQuay Stables, visit McQuayStables.com.