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.

“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 [email protected], or visit www.paintracing.com.