Traveler was a former railroad work horse that rose to fame for a short time as a race horse in a career that ended about 120 years ago. He is better known for his offspring. His actual ancestry is unknown, but he was believed to have been born in New York state around 1880 to and was transported to Texas around 1890 as a work horse for a railroad contractor. He had no name at that time and was a utility animal, used to pull an implement called a dirt scraper. At one point, the railroad contractor decided that a mule would be better and traded with an East Texas man named Self. Self determined that the horse had a talent for racing and began match racing him with other horses. The horse was then traded to an owner by the name of Seay who also raced him. How and when he was given the name of Traveler is also not precisely known. Finally the horse suffered a career ending injury and was sold possibly several more times until 1903, when he was acquired by owners Will and Dow Shely of Alfred, Texas. The Shely brothers used Traveler as one of the herd sires at their ranch.
Many of Traveler’s offspring were gelded to be used as work horses, pleasure horses and the like, but several of them went on to create strong reputations of their own, which in the horse world reflects back to Traveler. One was called Texas Chief, another was Possum (King) and a third was Little Joe. The latter two were from Traveler and Jenny, a mare in the “Billy” blood line. Jenny, out of Sike’s Rondo and May Magnum, was a sister to the Shely’s first herd sire named Blue Eyes. Traveler went on to serve at the Shely Ranch until he died in 1912 at possibly thirty-two years old. He was inducted into the American Quarter Horse Association Hall of Fame in 1994.
One of Traveler’s offspring, Little Joe, had been stabled at Dow Shely’s home at San Antonio when he caught the eye of another breeder named George Clegg, of Alice, Texas. Clegg saw promise in Little Joe. Though Little Joe was a somewhat small animal at the time Clegg bought him, he grew to over fourteen hands. Clegg successfully raced Little Joe from the time he was about two to when he was six years old. Little Joe finally began to show his age and was retired from racing. Little Joe became the sire for a long line of quality horses including some that went on to successful racing careers.
The story of Dash for Cash is likely better known and documented. He was foaled out of Rocket Wrangler and Find a Buyer, a Thoroughbred. The 6666 Ranch appears to have been where he finally was stabled, and the ranch is the source for some of the following. Dash for Cash was foaled on April 17, 1973 at the B. F. Phillips Ranch outside Frisco, Texas. Rocket Wrangler, 1970 winner of the All American Futurity at Ruidoso Downs, New Mexico, was a paternal grandson of Three Bars, a Thoroughbred, and a maternal grandson of Go Man Go. His mother was Find a Buyer, owned by the King Ranch with which the Phillips Ranch had a business relationship.
Dash for Cash dominated racing during his career. He won twenty-one of twenty-five races between March of 1975 and 1977. He also finished second in three of the four races that he did not win. His total winnings were $507,688 which was a respectable amount for this period. Purses have since increased dramatically. His winning races included Sun Country Futurity, Los Alamitos Invitational Championship and Derby, Vessels Maturity, Lubbock Downs and was the first horse to have two victories back to back at the Champion of Champions (1976 and 1977). His only trainer was C. W. Cascio and he was ridden by jockey Jerry Nicodemus.
A newspaper account of the 1977 Champion of Champions was focused on Dash for Cash. In the Star News issue of December 18, 1977 out of Pasadena, California, it was noted that this was Dash for Cash’s final race. The horse did not disappoint. Before 11,000 in attendance, Dash for Cash drew away from the field to win. In so doing, he became the first horse to be named world champion in consecutive years. The article continued to credit jockey Nicodemus and say that Dash for Cash was never in trouble in the race, although he did not lead from the opening gate. He caught a horse named Bar Roula about 150 yards from the wire and won the race by more than a length despite a closing challenge by another horse named Azure Three. Nicodemus allowed that Dash for Cash did not even seem to be in his absolute best form until his surge near the end of the race but was also quoted as saying of Dash for Cash, “This horse makes them all seem easy.”
The above mentioned article included a disclosure that Dash for Cash had just been syndicated for 2.5 million dollars and continued that the horse was to be returned to the Phillips Ranch where he would “stand” and provide stud services to a closed book of syndication owners. It is unknown how long this arrangement continued. He had a long and successful career as a sire for many years at the Phillips Ranch in Frisco. He was moved to the 6666 Ranch at Guthrie, Texas in 1993 and was stabled there for several more years until he died.
Around 1991, Dash for Cash was diagnosed with equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM). It is considered to be a common neurological disease that occurs in horses in North America and some locations in Central and South America. Intermediate hosts include small animals, particularly the opossum. It is contracted after ingestion of contaminated feed or water and then attacks the animal’s central nervous system. There is currently no vaccine for the disease, but it can be treated with antiprotozoal drugs. Medication may improve the condition but only a small percentage of infected horses fully recover.
Dash for Cash was treated and his decline from the disease was delayed, though he was not able to recover from the condition. He was humanely euthanized on May 20, 1996. The following year he was inducted into the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame.
Kerrville, Texas artist Jim Reno (1929 – 2008) was engaged to produce a bronze sculpture of Dash for Cash. His previous work included a statue of Secretariat for the National Museum of Racing in Saratoga, New York and another for the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky. Other works include statues of Charles Goodnight and Comanche Chief Quanah Parker. His bronze statue of Dash for Cash was commissioned for the American Quarter Horse Association headquarters and museum in Amarillo. It is a one and one half size sculpture of Dash for Cash being ridden by Nicodemus. Dash for Cash’s ashes are buried at the foot of it. An additional casting of the sculpture is installed at the entrance to the Guthrie, Texas ranch. Another is located on the campus of Texas A&M University.
In addition to his racing record, Dash for Cash leaves a great legacy in his offspring which includes race horses, cutting horses and work horses.
Texas History Notebook 
