Whizard Jac Million Dollar Sire

S I R E
D O L L A R
M I L L I O N
Whizard
Jac
EVEN AFTER HIS DEATH, WHIZARD JAC'S
LEGACY OF CHAMPIONS CARRIES HIM INTO
MILLION DOLLAR SIRE FAME.
BY GAVIN EHRINGER
T
HIS PAST JULY, QUARTER HORSE STALLION
Whizard Jac joined the ranks of the
National Reining Horse Association’s
millionaire sires. Owned by Bill and
Dawn Pohl of Rushville, Ohio,
Whizard Jac is only the 24th stallion
to make the elite list, joining his sire, Topsail Whiz, and
grandsires, Hollywood Jac 86 and Topsail Cody.
Whizard Jac was the product of the superlative breeding program of Sally Brown at Fox Meadow Farm in
Maple Plain, Minnesota. Whizard Jac’s maternal grandsire was the Jac Pac’s (Brown and Richie Greenberg) legendary stallion, Hollywood Jac 86, who in 1993 became
Reining’s first-ever Million Dollar Sire. From among the
stallion’s progeny, Brown carefully selected a band of
broodmares that would carry forward his breeding
legacy in Reining. Among the mares was Whizard Jac’s
dam, 1991 NRHA Futurity finalist Bees Honey Jac.
Bees Honey Jac was bred to the Bob Loomis-owned
stallion Topsail Whiz, the all-time leading sire of NRHA
money earners and a legend in the sport. The result was
a sorrel colt, noted for his remarkable handsomeness.
Foaled in 1993, Whizard Jac developed into a compact,
athletic stallion with a refined head, smallish ears, exceptional balance and the lithe musculature of an
equine athlete.
Before her passing, Sally Brown (the first recipient of
the NRHA Dale Wilkinson Lifetime Achievement
Award), recalled that as a foal Whizard Jac possessed a
confident, competitive personality that made him a
stand out among his peers. In a field where the foals
were kept, they often played “king of the mountain” on
a small hill of manure and shavings. Whizard Jac would
dash to the top of the heap and chase the other colts
away to claim his lofty position on top.
By 1996, Bill and Dawn Pohl had been on the lookout for their first futurity prospect for nearly two years.
They traveled with their trainer, Mike Flarida, and considered horses all across the U.S. In February of that
year, the trio made a whirlwind trip to performance
horse facilities around Gainesville, Texas. During one of
their stops, they heard that there was a Topsail Whiz
colt at the Loomis’ ranch that merited a look. With a
plane to catch, they decided to take the risk of missing
the flight and paid Loomis a hastily-arranged visit.
Once there, Flarida was invited to ride Whizard Jac.
He was then owned by Loomis and in training under
Whizard Jac’s Top Money-Earners:
Sail On Top Whizard
$195,515
Miss Lil Addy Tude
$111,561
Whizards Baby Doll
$39,134
KR Offtoseethewhizard
$39,003
Whizard Black Jac
$37,280
JUNE, 1997
THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE NATIONAL REINING HORSE ASSOCIATION
Championship
Dreams . . .
SALLY BROWN
As a weanling Whizard Jac graced
the cover of the NRHA Reiner …
an indication of the success he
would enjoy in the show pen and
the breeding shed.
www.nrha.com
NOVEMBER 2012
NRHA REINER
127
Loomis’ apprentice, Doug Vanee. With one ride, Flarida
knew he’d found the horse for which he and the Pohls had
been searching.
“Doug had done a really good job starting the horse and,
from the get-go, I felt something special,” said Flarida.
“We asked Mike if he was certain this was the horse he
wanted and he said, ‘Yep, this is the one. I’m sure,’” added Dawn.
With less than a year to prepare for the 1996 NRHA Futurity, Whizard Jac was somewhat stifled by some hoof problems
that developed. But the “tough little horse” thrived under what
training time Flarida was able to muster.
“I couldn’t ride him as much as I wanted to, but he wasn’t a
horse that needed to be ridden hard,” Flarida recalls. “He was
quiet and very trainable, low-headed and a good mover. And
he was truly a show horse.”
Flarida showed Whizard Jac at their first major outing, the
1996 All American Quarter Horse Congress Straight Arrow
Reining Futurity in Ohio. In the finals, Whizard Jac overreached on his second stop, jerked his shoe off and cut him-
Whizard Jac and Mike Flarida
earned the Gold Medal at
the inaugural 1999 USET
Festival of Champions
Reining Championship.
WALTENBERRY
Whizard Jac and Mike
Flarida were the 1996
NRHA Futurity Champions.
self. Despite the mishap, Whizard Jac gamely went on to complete the pattern, winning the reserve champion title—a halfpoint behind the winning ride.
This was a month before the NRHA’s marquee competition,
the NRHA Futurity, and the reserve title did much to affirm
Flarida’s confidence in the horse. According to Flarida,
Whizard Jac was the kind of horse who shined brightest in the
glare of the arena spotlight.
“He showed better than he prepared,” said Flarida. “By far,
he’s the best show horse I’ve ever ridden, then or since.”
Going into the 1996 NRHA Futurity, the Pohls were reasonably confident that their horse could make the finals, but
in no way prepared for the possibility that Whizard Jac could
take down a tough field which included Gunner (the esteemed
Paint horse ridden by NRHA Professional Clint Haverty).
“I don’t think anyone can go to the Futurity with an expectation of winning,” said Bill Pohl, looking back at the Saturday
in December when Whizard Jac earned a spot among the finalists. “We knew Whizard Jac was a nice horse. He’d done well
at the Quarter Horse Congress and Mike was very encouraging with his comments. But at any Futurity, there are five or six
horses that stand out in the early rounds. All we could hope,
WALTENBERRY
CHERYL BENDER
The 1996 NRHA
Futurity
Awards Ceremony.
128
NRHA REINER
NOVEMBER 2012
www.nrha.com
in the back of our minds, was that he’d go from being a nice
horse to actually winning it.”
When the dust settled, it was Whizard Jac who owned the
competition. For Flarida, it was the second trip to the Futurity’s winner’s circle, extending the notoriety he’d gained
aboard Custom Crome in 1993. For the Pohl family, it was not
only their maiden trip to the winner’s circle—it was also their
first trip to the NRHA Futurity. To show what neophytes the
Pohl family was in the wake of Whizard Jac’s momentous win,
Dawn recalls a phone conversation during the champion’s
banquet that she had with her son, Ryan Fancher:
“I called my son to tell him we’d won the Futurity and he
said, ‘You won what?’”
That May, Flarida entered the horse in the NRHA Derby
where, despite triple-digit temperatures, Whizard Jac managed
to capture third place. After the Derby, he was semi-retired to
stud at the Pohl’s farm in Ohio. Two years later, the Pohls went
to dinner with Flarida and his wife, Linda. The four began to
kick around the possibility of entering Whizard Jac in a new
aged-horse reining competition being planned by NRHA
under the auspices of the United States Equestrian Team and
the Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI).
“Mike told us about this new program being created to get
Reining established as an Olympic discipline. He felt that it
was something we should do. Up to that point, Whizard Jac
hadn’t been shown a lot. So this presented an exciting opportunity to do something more.”
Flarida and Whizard Jac submitted to the grueling qualification process to become one of the 25 horse and rider teams to
compete in the inaugural Reining Championship of the United
States Equestrian Team Championships (USET) during the
1999 USET Festival of Champions held in Gladstone, New Jersey. As had been the case everywhere, Whizard Jac put forth a
supreme effort under the gleeful crowds packing the bleachers.
As Whizard Jac piled up recognition in the show arena, his
progeny were poised to do the same. In the new millennium,
Whizard Jac offspring have been an exciting presence in the
PRIMO
Craig Schmersal
and Miss Lil
Addy Tude
WALTENBERRY
ANDREA BONAGA
Stacy Westfall
and Whizards
Baby Doll
Bernard Fonck and Sail On
Top Whizard
www.nrha.com
NOVEMBER 2012
NRHA REINER
129
130
NRHA REINER
NOVEMBER 2012
www.nrha.com
Whizard Jac and
Mike Flarida at
Gladstone, New
Jersey, for the
1999 USET Festival
of Champions.
JULIE PINKSTON
U.S. and in worldwide Reining. The top-earner among the
bunch is Sail On Top Whizard, bred by Yvette Saad and owned
by Danny and Mireille Cerato. Sail On Top Whizard earned
the inaugural championship at the 2009 NRHA European Futurity, followed by the 2011 Italian Reining Association Derby
Level 4 Open division. All told, the horse has amassed more
than $195,515, NRHA Lifetime Earnings in his career.
Next in line among the leading earners is Miss Lil Addy
Tude, owned by KC Performance Horses, LLC. In 2011, the
mare claimed the Ariat Tulsa Reining Classic FEI CRI championship, the reserve champion title at the FEI World Reining
Finals, World Reining Finals CRI-5 and the Kentucky Cup
Reining CRI-5 under NRHA Two Million Dollar Rider and
NRHA Professional Craig Schmersal. Her career earnings
stand at $111,560.
Whizards Baby Doll, a favorite of Dawn Pohl, enjoyed great
success as a freestyle Reining performer. Bred by Jody Penrod
and owned by Gregory Gessner, she was the 2005 and 2006
All-American Quarter Horse Congress Freestyle Champion
and the 2005 NRHA North American Affiliate Open Freestyle
Champion with rider Stacy Westfall.
Sadly, Whizard Jac was put down in 2009; however, his
breeding program continues with semen stored in Europe. His
legacy also lives on in the performances of the progeny that
helped make him an NRHA Million Dollar Sire.
“We’re both so honored to have this happen for Whizard
Jac,” said Bill Pohl. “It’s been a great chance to relive all of the
experiences that made him such a great horse.” ✦