Top Deck was foaled in 1945 on the King Ranch. Top Deck had as royal a bloodline as any foal his age. He descended from Equipoise and was out of a Man O’ War mare. However, those bloodlines were over come by his lack of soundness and a rank mean streak that made him unfit for racing. He did have tremendous speed and displayed that fantastic turn of foot during his early training. In the spring of 1947, Top Deck ran 220 yards in :12.2, fractions off the world record. However, every time he ran, the colt pulled up sore on his left leg.
Robert Kleberg Jr. gave the injured Top Deck to Ernest Lane, a trainer who worked at King Ranch. Lane bred Top Deck to J.B. Ferguson’s mare Skippy F. She foaled Stardeck F, winner of the Texas Futurity at Eagle Pass and the Del Rio Futurity at Val Verde. Ferguson then offered Lane $20,000 for Top Deck. Lane jumped at the chance to rid himself of the ill-tempered stud deemed too hard to handle.
Despite having sired such world famous runners such as Go Man Go, Ferguson had trouble booking mares to Top Deck due to the stud’s bad reputation. In 1960 Ferguson leased the stallion to A.B. Green of Purcell, Oklahoma, where Top Deck became a triumph almost instantly. Top Deck sired 440 Quarter Horse foals and four AQHA Champions. In the first 36 years of the All American Futurity, 25 of the winners descended from Top Deck. Two of his offspring, Astro Deck and War Machine, earned the AQHA Supreme Champion award.
Top Deck died in 1965 at the age of 20. Perceived as the leading sire of money earners around the world, Top Deck was inducted into the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in 1990.
Robert Kleberg Jr. gave the injured Top Deck to Ernest Lane, a trainer who worked at King Ranch. Lane bred Top Deck to J.B. Ferguson’s mare Skippy F. She foaled Stardeck F, winner of the Texas Futurity at Eagle Pass and the Del Rio Futurity at Val Verde. Ferguson then offered Lane $20,000 for Top Deck. Lane jumped at the chance to rid himself of the ill-tempered stud deemed too hard to handle.
Despite having sired such world famous runners such as Go Man Go, Ferguson had trouble booking mares to Top Deck due to the stud’s bad reputation. In 1960 Ferguson leased the stallion to A.B. Green of Purcell, Oklahoma, where Top Deck became a triumph almost instantly. Top Deck sired 440 Quarter Horse foals and four AQHA Champions. In the first 36 years of the All American Futurity, 25 of the winners descended from Top Deck. Two of his offspring, Astro Deck and War Machine, earned the AQHA Supreme Champion award.
Top Deck died in 1965 at the age of 20. Perceived as the leading sire of money earners around the world, Top Deck was inducted into the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in 1990.