Miss N Cash • QHN File PhotoWhen those whose heritage is rooted deep in the Western performance horse world remember Miss N Cash, who died of a heart attack in early August, they recall a quick and powerful horse that changed the industry. He was the brainchild of Oxbow Ranch’s Dan Lufkin and B.F. Phillips, who came together in a partnership to breed the 1983 stallion. Lufkin wanted to reintroduce running blood into cow horses with 1978 National Reined Cow Horse Association (NRCHA) Snaffle Bit Futurity Open Champion Doc N Missy (by Doc Bar), and he found just the speed he needed in Phillips’ legendary stallion Dash For Cash.
Miss N Cash’s unique bloodlines created a buzz in the business as people waited to see if he would enter the cutting pen, where his dam earned more than $109,000, or embrace a racing career like his sire. In 1986, Miss N Cash put all the speculation to rest when he carried Mike Haack, of Capistrano Beach, California, to seventh place in the National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) Futurity Open.
“He added spice,” said Jennifer Gagan, who owned Miss N Cash with her husband, E.J. Gagan, at the time of his death. “What an incredible idea that was, to play with that pedigree and add a little speed.”
In his short performance career, Miss N Cash took home merely five checks, but he amassed $124,661 in earnings between them. The largest of those paydays came at the 1987 NCHA Derby, where he won the Open with a 228 to bank $45,557. That same year, he tied for second in the Derby Open at the Tropicana Futurity and won the 4-Year-Old Open at the Reno Celebrity Derby. In the beginning of his 5-year-old season, Miss N Cash retired from the show arena and his first American Quarter Horse Association-(AQHA) registered foals were born.
As the years went on, Miss N Cash passed on his superior genetics to champions in various disciplines, including cutting, reining, reined cow horse, barrel racing and roping. According to previous owners David and Vava Elkins, of Whitt, Texas, the stallion continued to produce offspring via live semen well into his late 20s. AQHA records reflect 815 registered foals to Miss N Cash’s credit, with 311 of those offspring listed as performers.
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