I bought Gold King Bailey as a yearling. I was looking for an older stallion when I

found him.  I decided he would grow into what I wanted, and he did. I kept him until death 18

years later.

I traded for Gold Pacific, a son of Gold King Bailey, from Bud Warren, when he was a
colt. I came home and told my wife “I wouldn't want Gold King Bailey to hear me say
this, but Gold Pacific might be better than he was.” Gold Pacific, in his short life, proved
to be a race horse and a sire.  He was the sire of Pacific Bailey, that I picked out as a
colt to be a race horse and a great sire. He was a race horse, defeating some of the best.
We will see how his first colts look in 1968, and how they perform in 1970.

Now, I will tell you a mistake I made. I went out to Walter Merrick’s to look at Bar
Money when he was a colt. I liked him fine. I thought he would be the stud I was looking
for to cross on my Gold King Bailey mares. Walter wanted $25,000 and, “old tight wad,
me” I would only offer $20,000. So I didn’t get him. J.T. Walters and Bill Hedge gave the
$25,000. They said they had to ‘borrow money’ to pay for him and that is how he got
his name, “Bar Money.” Bar Money proved to a AAA race horse and increased in value.

My good friend, Roger Wyatt, came to my house one evening and told me he could trade
for Bar.  He said they wanted $70,000 for him, but would take $10,000 in stud fees to
him. But, he wouldn’t buy him unless I’d buy half interest in him. Again, I thought he was
too high. I thought we should get him for $50,000. We ate supper and after long hours
of talking and several cups of coffee, I finally decided to buy half interest in him. So,
Roger set in to make the trade for Bar Money. I had just built a new little office building
at the ranch, and Roger and J. T. Walters met at my house one morning, and after an
all days session, and several pots of coffee, the first trade in my new office was made,
Roger traded for Bar Money.

The next morning when Roger came to my house, to go down to get Bar Money, he told
me he had been thinking and decided he had talked me into buying half interest in Bar
Money, and he didn’t think I really wanted to give that much so he would just keep him
all. We went to J.T.’s and got him and brought him to my house. I stood him for four
seasons, crossing him on Gold King Bailey mares that produced such horses as Iva Bar
Bailey AAA. Bar Money proved himself as a sire. After Roger’s death, Bar Money sold in
his dispersal sale to Thomas J. Heckel, Jr., for  a record price for any horse at auction
for $132,000. I was the runner up in the bidding, but missed him again. Now, he has
added the honor of AQHA Champion to his name and working on the balance of his
roping points, which will make him a Supreme Champion, still increasing his value.

The moral of this story is, “If you see something that is good, and you want it, buy it.
Don’t let a few dollars stand in your way.