Moon Deck’s family is one of the fastest families of Quarter Horses to breeze into the record books. His sire, Top Deck (TB), was inducted into the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in 1990, his son Jet Deck earned the honor in 1991, and his grandson Easy Jet joined them in 1993.
Moon Deck was foaled at J.B. Ferguson’s ranch near Wharton, Texas, March 28, 1950. He was out of Ferguson’s mare Moonlight Night. Two years later, Ferguson sent him to trainer Paul Simar of Carencro, Texas. Simar put jockey Pat Castille in the saddle and Moon Deck began a racing career that would keep him in the limelight for the next five years.
Early on, Moon Deck showed he could run. His first win came at Del Rio Park in Texas on April 26, 1952, when he went 3½ furlongs in :41 4/10ths, putting some four lengths on his nearest competitor. Less than a month later, the colt ran the quarter-mile division of the Texas Futurity in San Angelo, winning easily in :22.6. Throughout the time he raced, Moon Deck went to post 62 times, winning and placing second 11 times a piece and running third in another six races. With wins in races such as the Los Alamitos Championship and the Albuquerque Derby, Moon Deck earned $22,087, this at a time when only about two dozen Quarter Horses had ever brought home more.
If Moon Deck had done nothing else notable, siring Jet Deck was enough to secure his place as one of the greatest racing sires in history. Jet Deck won 22 of 31 outs, earning $200,628 and winning 13 stakes races.
All in all, Moon Deck sired 343 foals. Of these, 261 were starters, 181 were winners, 174 were earners of racing ROMs, 20 were stakes winners, 15 earned performance points, two were racing world champions and two were AQHA Champions. His get that raced earned $1,282,145.
Moon Deck died in 1974, of a twisted intestine at the Keith-Bell Quarter Horse Ranch near Tulare, California. He was inducted into the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in 1996.
Biography updated as of March 1996.