VESSELS STALLION FARM LLC

Stakes Highlights:

-Won 2006 All American Futurity with No Secrets Here

-Won the Ed Burke Futurity with Dashing Knud in 2000

-Won the Ed Burke Million Futurity with Fdd Dynasty in 2006

-Won the 2007 Go Man Go Handicap with Fdd Dynasty

-Won the Golden State Futurity with Dashing Knud in 2000

-Won the Governor's Cup Derby with Fdd Dynasty in 2007

-Won the Governor's Cup Futurity with Your First Moon in 2001

-Won the Los Alamitos Super Derby with Little Bit Of Baja in 2007

-Won the Los Alamitos Million Futurity with Dashing Knud in 2000

-Won the Los Alamitos Million Futurity with Your First Moon in 2001

-Won the Los Alamitos Winter Derby in 2005 with One More Habit

 As the founders of Los Alamitos Race Course, the Vessels family has a long and proud history in Quarter Horse racing. Continuing the tradition are Frank "Scoop" Vessels III and his wife Bonnie, who own Vessels Stallion Farm in Bonsall, California. Scoop and Bonnie have three sons, Colt, Kash and Bryan.
 Scoop is the third generation of the Vessels family involved in the American Quarter Horse business. Scoop's grandfather was enamored with the breed and acquired Clabber, the legendary  "Iron Horse" that was the first world champion racing American Quarter Horse. Scoop was raised on the backstretch of Los Alamitos Race Course, the racetrack his grandfather founded in the 1940s and his father, Frank Jr., and later his mother, Millie, owned and operated until 1984, when it was bought by the then-parent company of Hollywood Park.

THE FARM
    Today, Vessels Stallion Farm is one of the horse racing industry's most prominent breeding operations. Throughout its history, Vessels Stallion Farm has been associated with some of the leading racing American Quarter Horse sires, through Clabber, Alamitos Bar, Go Man Go, Duplicate Copy, Tiny Charger, Timeto Thinkrich, Tolltac and others. First Down Dash heads the farm's current battery, whose offspring have earned over $50 million.
 But Vessels Stallion Farm is more than just First Down Dash. The famed farm also stands several other top stallions - Quarter Horse and Thoroughbred. Quarter Horse stallions include DAsh To Chivato, First Wrangler, Fishers Dash and Splash Bac. Thoroughbred stallions include Apollo, Devon Lane, In Excess, Jackpot, and Momentum. Also home to some of the finest broodmares in the nation, Vessels Stallion Farm earned the title of AQHA Champion Breeder in 1999 and were the second-leading breeders in the nation in 2002, when Vessels-bred horses won 80 of 408 starts for earnings of $682,888. Primarily a market breeding operation, Vessels Stallion Farm has bred such notable runners as Old Habits, Meter Me Gone, Natovas Princess, Your First Moon, One More Habit, Pretty Sensation and many others.
 Scoop and Bonnie have also enjoyed great success as racehorse owners. Over the past few years, the Vessels' black and gold silks have graced the likes of 1987 World Champion First Down Dash, 1999 Champion Distance Horse Hateful Hanna, 2000 Champion 2-Year-Old Gelding Dashing Knud, and California Champion Dash To Chivato, 2002 Champion 2-Year-Old Your First Moon, and 2004 Champion 2-Year-Old Filly Hardly Hateful. One More Habit, the winner of the Los Alamitos Winter Derby in February of 2005, is certainly one of the favorites of the Vessels family right now because she reminds them so much of the champion Old Habits.  You might remember Old Habits, the winner of both the All American and Los Alamitos derbies in 1999. The Girls, a fun-loving partnership that Bonnie Vessels was a part of, owned the champion gelding.    
      "Old Habits stole our hearts, everyone of us," she said. "And One More Habit is just like her brother. She's the first one we've had that has been just like her brother. They have the same kind of energy, the same kind of look. She is a very special filly to us."
      One More Habit went on the auction ring in 2003. "We had a family discussion and we decided that she would go through the sale ring. In the end, Scoop let her stay with us and I was happy about that," she added.

2004 AQHA PRESIDENT

     In 2003, the American Quarter Horse Association Board of Directors elected then first vice president Frank "Scoop" Vessels as the AQHA President for 2004, replacing outgoing president Steve Stevens of Houston.  A deep interest in youth and advancing their knowledge of the racing industry led Scoop to become the driving force behind the American Quarter Horse Youth Association Racing Program. An AQHA Director since 1994, Scoop served as chairman of the youth racing subcommittee before his election to the AQHA Executive Committee. He also has been an active member of the AQHA Racing Council, having served as its chairman. Scoop serves on the board of directors for the Pacific Coast Quarter Horse Racing Association and California Thoroughbred Breeders Association. He also is a member of the Pacific Coast Quarter Horse Association.

A NEW VENTURE

     Vessels has partnered with Ed Allred for a new venture in 2005. The two famous horsemen, in conjunction with the Pacific Coast Quarter Horse Racing Association, will run a two-day Quarter Horse yearling, broodmare and mixed stock sale in October under the banner of the Los Alamitos Equine Sales Company. The sale will feature all of Allred's sale stock and most of Vessels Stallion Farms' sale stock.
 Previously, the Vessels along with legendary trainer Blane Schvaneveldt, hosted the Vessels/Schvaneveldt Sale, held at the Vessels ranch. The sale has produced some of the industry's top prices for Quarter Horse yearlings, including the $700,000 purchase Corona Caliente in 2001. Consigned by Caroline Etchandy, the colt was purchased by Molly Morris and set an high-selling record for a sale yearling of any breed in California.