BACK                                                                              PETER MCCUE

HALL OF FAME SPOTLIGHT.

Inducted in 1991

Peter McCue’s name rings a bell with anyone slightly knowledgeable about Quarter Horse history. Though controversy surrounded the sire of Peter McCue, the dark bay stallion left no doubt that he was one of AQHA’s founding sires. 

The stallion was foaled February 23, 1895 , on the Little Grove Stock Farm, in Petersburg , Illinois . Peter McCue’s breeder, Sam Watkins, registered the colt with The Jockey Club and listed Duke Of The Highlands as the sire and Nora M. as the dam. However, Watkins told anyone involved with Peter McCue that the stallion’s real sire was Dan Tucker.

The reason for the switch is simple. Duke Of The Highlands was a Thoroughbred and Dan Tucker was a Quarter Horse. Most race meets allowed only registered Thoroughbreds to run. Watkins wanted Peter McCue to have his chance to run. So Watkins followed a widespread practice of the day and registered Peter McCue as a son of Duke Of The Highlands.

When Peter McCue turned 2, Watkins leased the stallion to a nephew, Charles Watkins, who placed the horse in race training. In 1897, the stallion made it to the track, recording eight wins at distances ranging from ½ mile to 4½ furlongs. 

Milo Burlingame rode Peter McCue during a meet in St. Louis . In an interview in the late 1940s, Burlingame said, “I never saw him raced with horses that could make him straighten his neck out,” and later, “I was just a kid then, but swore I would own that horse some day.”

At the same meet, Peter McCue’s trainer decided to run the horse wide open. Five watches were used to clock the stallion. Burlingame pushed Peter McCue and when the pair finished, two of the watches were under 21 seconds and the other three read exactly 21 seconds.

Besides official racetracks, Peter McCue ran at scores of fair circuits. The heavy use reportedly displeased Sam Watkins and with good reason. Peter McCue broke his left fore pastern as a 3-year-old. After nine months of hanging in a sling, the horse recovered.

Watkins raced Peter McCue until 1907 when John Wilkins of San Antonio , Texas , purchased him. In 1910, Wilkins sold the stallion to Trammel and Newman of Sweetwater, Texas , who kept him a year before selling him to Milo Burlingame of Cheyenne, Oklahoma. Burlingame sold Peter McCue in 1916 to Si Dawson and Coke Roberds of Colorado, who owned the old stallion until his death in 1923 at age 28.

All of these men owed the success of their breeding programs to Peter McCue. Though only 44 of his get were registered with AQHA, they represent some of the greatest foundation sires in the breed. Among his sons were Harmon Baker, Buck Thomas, A D Reed, Badger, Old Red Buck, Chief, Jack McCue, John Wilkins and Hickory Bill. The list becomes even more impressive with his grandsons and granddaughters: Old Sorrel, Joe Hancock, Nick, Midnight and Barney Owens.