RL Best of Sudden – The AQHA & NSBA All Time Leading Sire
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158 – July/August, 2022
By Delores Kuhlwein
An outstanding stallion passes along beauty, quality of movement, athletic talent, and intelligence; and the perfect one additionally boasts a remarkable sire record. The ability of RL Best of Sudden to possess all these attributes and beyond has become legendary, so it comes as no surprise that he was recently named the AQHA and NSBA All Time leading sire, passing up Invitation Only to top the list.
Owned by Ken and Marilyn Masterson of Masterson Farms, LLC, based in Somerville, Tennessee, “Bo” has surpassed their expectations from the very beginning when they first laid eyes on the young stallion as a two-year-old at the 2004 Reichert Celebration where he won the Reichert 2-Year-Old Western Pleasure $100,000 Open Challenge. “He has a star quality about him that we first saw then,” Ken Masterson explains. “He had the $100,000 won before he ever entered the ring.”
In 2006, they purchased the young stallion by A Sudden Impulse and out of Zip N Therapy–both Top 25 All Time Western Pleasure and All Around Money Earners–from Sonny and Alice Douglas, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Since that time, Bo, or “RL,” as he’s often called, has established a legacy that has undeniably impacted the world of AQHA and NSBA horses forever. Earning the All Time Leading Sires title is a testament to his career as a sire, and the Mastersons are thrilled.
“We couldn’t be prouder. He was obviously a tremendous breeding sire from the very beginning, but for him to have achieved this standing among all of the current stallions and those of the past is hard to fully realize,” Ken explains. “Our breeding program began with a couple of mares being bred to other stallions, which then led to the acquisition of Zippos Sheik, and then the purchase of Bo. We would never have imagined some four decades ago that we would ever have had the opportunity to be a part of this success.”
The achievement is historically significant in the industry, explains Justin Billings, AQHA Chief Show Officer. “Since 1940, AQHA has been preserving Quarter Horse pedigrees and performance records. As the largest equine registry in the world, it is quite an accomplishment to stand at the top of any ranking,” he says. “RL Best of Sudden has recently reached that pinnacle as an AQHA leading sire. His contributions to the show horse industry will fill the history books for generations to come as his offspring continue to make their mark on AQHA competition.”
Sire Record
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158 – July/August, 2022
