Breeding


Stakes Winner Fly Thru The Fire To Stand at Burns Ranch In 2018
Stakes winner Fly Thru The Fire will stand the 2018 season at Burns Ranch near Menifee, California.

© Burns Ranch
Stakes Winner Fly Thru The Fire To Stand at Burns Ranch In 2018

MENIFEE, CA—AUGUST 24, 2017—Stakes winner Fly Thru The Fire, a half-brother to Grade 1 winners Rock You and Little Talks, will begin his stallion career at Burns Ranch in Menifee, California in 2018 after being purchased by the partnership of 13-time AQHA Champion Breeder Ed Allred and leading breeder Dr. Steve Burns, who bred the son of Walk Thru Fire and sold him at auction as a yearling. His fee has been set at $2,500.

Out of Dr. Burns' outstanding broodmare Babe On The Fly, the 6-year-old stallion Fly Thru The Fire won or placed in eight of 12 starts and earned $144,125 in his career. For previous owner King Camden Running Horses Inc., Fly Thru The Fire won the City of Hialeah Stakes and finished second in the Sam Abbey Memorial Invitational held at Hialeah Park last year.

His other top efforts of 2016 included a second-place finish to eventual World Champion Jessies First Down in the Grade 2 Sam Houston Classic Stakes and a second to Zoomin Effortlessly in the $250,000 The Downs at Albuquerque Fall Championship. He was fourth to Jessies First Down in the Grade 1 Zia Park Championship Stakes last November before making his final career start in the Grade 1 Leo Stakes at Remington Park on April 1, 2017.

Fly Thru The Fire defeated world champion Jessies First Down in the City of Hialeah Stakes at Hialeah Park.
© Coady Photography
Purchased for $200,000 as a yearling, Fly Thru The Fire won his first three career starts, including his only two outings as a 2-year-old in 2013. Owned at the time by the partnership of Paul Blanchard, Johnny Cope, R.D. Hubbard, and Henry Southway, Fly Thru The Fire won his trials to the Grade 1 Ruidoso Futurity and Grade 1 All American Futurity, tying for the fifth fastest qualifying time to the All American after winning his 440-yard trial by a half-length.

He was then unlucky to lose the shake for the day's final qualifying berth to the All American final. Unraced as a 3-year-old, Fly Thru The Fire came back to win his first start as a 4-year-old. He would later race in that year's Grade 3 Higheasterjet Handicap at Ruidoso Downs and Grade 3 La Plata Stakes at Sunray Park.

"We've been looking for a replacement for Walk Thru Fire, who is going through some insemination issues in his old age," said Allred, Quarter Horse racing's all-time leading breeder.

Fly Thru The Fire winning his trial for the All American Futurity(G1) at Ruidoso Downs. He tied for the 5th fastest time and shook out of the final.
© Gay Harris / Ruidoso Downs
"Walk Thru Fire has been the backbone of our breeding program for a long time and has sired several million dollar winners, but the boys have all been geldings. We've been looking for one of his sons to fill his place as a stallion and we feel we've found him in Fly Thru the Fire." "I'm very optimistic about this horse and I'll be breeding a lot of my mares to him," Allred added. "I think his mother, Babe On The Fly, is one of the best broodmares in the nation. She's an outstanding mare and produces magnificent looking horses. I couldn't ask for a stronger female family, which is important in a stallion. We believe that Fly Thru The Fire will be a success."

"Fly Thru The Fire was a good looking horse that sold for $200,000 as a yearling," Dr. Burns said. "He shook out of the final spot to the All American Futurity so that was very disappointing as a breeder. He didn't run as a 3-year-old, but he came back and became a solid stakes horse. He's well-bred and we feel that he will get the job done as a stallion. He's a good-sized horse and he just looks like a racehorse. He should fit any kind of mare. He's out of a good producer, who was well bred herself. That should add to the mix."

Babe On The Fly earned $246,111 in her 19-race career while racing for Anna and Rod MacPherson, Jr. She was second in the Grade 1 PCQHRA Breeders Futurity, Grade 1 Golden State Futurity, and Grade 3 Los Alamitos Invitational Stakes in 2003, while racing in total of seven stakes races. As a broodmare, the daughter of Strawfly Special has produced Grade 1 Ruidoso Derby and Grade 1 All American Gold Cup winner Rock You ($790,325) and Grade 1 Golden State Million Futurity and PCQHRA Breeders Derby winner Little Talks ($563,897). Babe On The Fly is also the dam of Evergreen Park Derby Challenge winner Wrap You Up. Babe On The Fly's daughter, Annas Babe, is the mother of 2016 Governor's Cup Futurity winner AJS Anna Smoke.

The 20-year-old Walk Thru Fire is the sire of five millionaires headed by AQHA world champion Heza Dasha Fire ($1,941,237) and AQHA World Champion Last To Fire ($1,145,254). His other top performers include champion Higher Fire ($1,314,742), 2016 Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity winner Worth Doing ($1,179,101) and 2014 Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity winner and multiple Grade 1 winner He Looks Hot ($1,058,614). Walk Thru Fire is also the sire of champion Walk Thru Crystal ($675,855), DM Streakn Thru Fire ($658,763), champion Separate Fire ($631,250), etc.

For additional information on Fly Thru The Fire call Fred Scane at 951-452-6724, Dr. Steve Burns, DVM, at 951-301-0201 or visit theburnsranch.com.