By BEN HUDSON
TRACK Magazine Owner/Editor

VENTRESS, LA—AUGUST 5, 2020—When the lifetime race earnings for the starters sired by the Champion Jess Louisiana Blue passed $20,000,000 in late July of this year, it marked a milestone in American Quarter Horse history.

In a period spanning some 48 hours in early February 1998, at Jumonville Farms in New Roads, Louisiana, two brown colts by the young Champion Mr Jess Perry were foaled. At that time, Mr Jess Perry was standing for $1,500.

Those two foals, both of out of mares bred, raised and raced by Jumonville Farms, were successful runners. The first born was Jess Louisiana Blue $170,682 who became a graded stakes winner, a 440-yard track record setter and the AQHA’s Champion Aged Stallion. The second born was Feature Mr Jess $529,237, who won Grade I races as a two-year-old and as a three-year-old at Ruidoso.

Bunny and J.E., Jumonville, Jr., with their sons Trey, Dutch and Clayton, not only bred and raced Feature Mr Jess and Jess Louisiana Blue, but they also bred and raced the dam of both of these horses.

When Jess Louisiana Blue became just the 24th stallion in the 80-year history of the American Quarter Horse Association to have his offspring earn more than $20,000,000 while racing, the Jumonvilles became the only entity to bred two stallions to reach that lofty $20,000,000 plateau.

Feature Mr Jess, whose breeding career was cut short by laminitis at an early age, ranks No. 16 on the all-time sires of money earners with nearly $25 million. Feature Mr Jess is one of only two stallions in the history of the breed with two or more horses that have earned in excess of $1.8 million in Champion and All American Futurity G1 winner Heartswideopen and Champion and Champion of Champions G1winner Jess You And I. His runners also include the Champions Feature Mr Bojangles, Stlylish Jess BR, Brenda Beautiful, Jesscuzican and Wahoo.

Feature Mr Jess was raced in a partnership and stood his entire career in Texas at JEH Stallion Station.

Jess Louisiana Blue, whose major runners include such outstanding Accredited Louisiana-bred runners as Jessa Louisiana Zoom and Jess A Saint, also sired the multiple Grade I winner and Remington Park track record setter Louisiana Senator.

Jess Louisiana Blue, who stood his entire career at Jumonville Farms, is the only Accredited Louisiana-bred horse to stand exclusively in Louisiana and amass earnings of more than $20,000,000.

Speaking of reaching the $20,000,000 plateau with the two stallions, J.E. told TRACK, “God has blessed our family in many ways over the years and having these two incredible horses born the same year and come from our little band of eight to ten mares is one of our biggest blessing."