RSpecial Illusion Q-52730
On 17th October 2015, RSpecial
Illusion AAA (imp) passed away
from complications due to colic. The
death of this beautifully bred horse,
who had All American connections
on both sides of his pedigree,
highlights tragedies that are all
too prevalent in The Australian
Quarter Horse Sprint Industry.
If ever a running bred stallion
came to our shores with a better
pedigree than this horse, then I
haven’t seen it. Bred by Jerry
Windham, Rspecial Illusion was
foaled in Texas in 1995. According
to the AQHA Stud Book there is not
one horse registered by this blue
blood Quarter Horse in Australia.
Although there are horses around
by him they are in the hands of
people who can see no reason to
register them with the AQHA. With
his passing we have finally lost the
chance to utilise great bloodlines.
RSpecial Illusion had 11 starts for
1 win and 2 thirds and $8449 in
prizemoney, earning a speed index
of 90. He stood at Wayne Grahams
Jarama Stud at Collector in New
South Wales until his death.
RSpecial Illusion was sired by
the Triple Crown winner Special
Effort. There is too much that
could be said about this great
horse to include it here. Not only
was Special Effort a champion
on the track he also produced
at stud, siring such horses as
World Champion Special Leader,
Champion aged stallion Bully
Bullion, All American Futurity
winner Elans Special and the great
Strawfly Special. As a broodmare
sire his daughters have produced
champions such
as Eyesa Special, Falling in Love
Again, Scrutinizer and Deelish.
RSpecial Illusion had a wonderful
damline. He was out of An Easy
Illusion by Easy Dozen, a stallion
who needs no introduction in
Australia. This son of Easy Jet was
a champion sire here before his
repatriation to America where he
also became a leading sire.
An Easy Illusion was a daughter
of the mighty Indigo Illusion, a
striking mare of impeccable
breeding and near-flawless
conformation. Indigo Illusion
kicked off her career as a track
record-setting champion and
ended up as the mama of blacktype sprinters who earned more
than half a million dollars on the
racetrack.
The champion
freshman filly
for that year, RSpecia
l Illusio
n
Indigo Illusion
sprinted the
distance in :21.26. That season she
won nine of 13 races while earning
$476,890, but she was a force to
be reckoned with during her entire
racing career. With 17 wins, three
seconds and four thirds from 30
career races, Indigo Illusion scored
in six stakes, including the Grade
1 Rainbow Derby and Vessels
Maturity. She placed second
in two others, and was third in
four, including the Champion of
Champions (G1), where she showed
in 1984 and lit the board in 1985.
Bred by William Carter and Allen
Baitzor of Clovis, California, the
1981 dark brown filly was by
Beduino (TB) out of the Duplicate
Copy mare Copy Capri. Windham
bought her for $7,000 at the Pacific
Coast QHRA yearling sale.
On August 13, 1983, Indigo Illusion
ran what then was the fastest
quarter mile ever by a 2-year-old
anywhere. It also was the secondfastest quarter mile by any horse
on the California straightaway,
bested only by Dash For Cash’s
:21.17 track mark.
That occasion was the Faberge
Special Effort Futurity, which
was the last leg of the West Coast
Triple Crown. With $853,380 up
for grabs, the Faberge final drew
a great field, including two other
Beduinos, Grade 1 winner Tolltac,
who scratched; and Grade 3 winner
Check The Charts. Eventual world
champion Dashs Dream was in the
gate, and leaving as the favorite
was Dash For Cash Futurity (G1)
winner Face In The Crowd.
“The filly went to the gate really
cool,” explained Robert Bard, who
rode Indigo Illusion for trainer
Bruce Jackson. “She was one of the
only ones that never got a wet hair
on her. Even as hot as it was, she
stayed cool and calm.”
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2016
Special Effort Q-8126
From July 1983 through July
1984, Indigo Illusion came home in
front in 13 consecutive races.
Retired to the broodmare band
after finishing 3rd in the December
1985 Las Damas Handicap (G1),
Indigo Illusion went on to produce
19 foals, 13 of which went to the
track. Ten of them returned as
winners, including Grade 1 Kansas
and Graham Farms futurity
winner Magic Dozen by Easy
Dozen; Graham Farms Derby (G2)
winner Illusive Feature by Truckle
Feature; Manor Downs Derby (G2)
winner First Place Dash by First
Down Dash; and the Streakin Six
colt Streakin Sixes, who lit the
board in the Grade 1 Heritage Place
Futurity and Texas Classic Derby.
Indigo Illusion’s progeny put
$562,510 in the pockets of their
connections. Her Futurity winning
son, Magic Dozen - a full brother
to the dam of RSpecial Illusion -