Chicado V - Early Life

Early Life

Chicado V was bred by Frank Vessels of Los Alamitos, California and foaled in 1950. She was a member of the Quarter Horse breed, and the AQHA registered her in their stud book as number 29,689. She was a daughter of Chicaro Bill out of the broodmare Do Good, herself a member of the AQHA Hall of Fame. Chicado V was a full sister to Senor Bill, an outstanding racehorse and breeding stallion, as well as a half-sister to Clabber II and Do Win, two other outstanding racehorses. Chicaro Bill's dam, or mother, was a mare named Verna Grace, who was known as Fair Chance when she raced. Through Chicaro Bill, Chicado V was a descendent of the AQHA Hall of Fame member Traveler as well as the Thoroughbred Hall of Fame member Peter Pan. On her dam's side, she traced to Louisiana Quarter Horse bloodlines as well as to the AQHA Hall of Famer Peter McCue.

When mature, Chicado V stood 15.0 hands (60 inches, 152 cm) tall. She was a brown mare, with a connected star, stripe, and snip on her face as her only markings, or identifying marks. Earl Holmes, a longtime trainer who started his racing career as a groom for Vessels, had the care of Chicado V after she was born, and said of her that she "was gentle, real gentle—in everything. She was born broke." When she stood in a starting gate for a race, Holmes said she looked like a rabbit, because "she had big ears and that's all you could see, she was so little". She also had a body defect, or conformation fault, in that she had calf-knees.