Metallic Rey Mink Filly, Jordies Mink, sells for $1 Million

People all around the world might ask why someone would pay $1 million for a cutting horse that’s just two years old. Vick Ethridge, of Corinth, Mississippi, had a very simple answer when he was tasked with this question. Just days earlier he’d purchased Jordies Mink (Metallic Rey Mink x Jordie Get Your Gun x Nitas Wood) at the Western Bloodstock National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) Futurity Sale during Session II for the price tag of $1 million.

“Why would I work 77 years to get to where I could spend $1 million if I couldn’t spend it on somebody I loved?” Vick said.

He didn’t buy the horse for himself. He bought her for his wife Missy Jean Etheridge—she is the cutting horse crazy person of the family. Together, they run Belle Terre Ranch and are building a cutting horse breeding program. She was speechless at the purchase.

“In the beginning of the show he asked me which horse I wanted,” Missy Jean said. “Everybody wanted her [Jordies Mink], and I said, ‘She’s going to be out of our price range, and there’s no way we’re going to get her. There’s too many big people after her and it’s not going to happen’.”

Missy Jean sat with trainer Michael Cooper during the sale as she watched the once-in-a-lifetime horse go through the ring. As the bidding got high, she asked who was making the bids because she couldn’t see who the bidder was from across the sale ring. Cooper thought it might be Billy Wolf. In 2020, Wolf had paid $1,050,000 for the 2-year-old mare Wood She B Magic at that year’s Western Bloodstock NCHA Futurity Sales. But, Missy Jean didn’t see Wolf across the ring.  

Eventually, Cooper noticed Vick was the one bidding and told Missy Jean. She tried to signal to him to stop bidding, because she didn’t think they should be spending that much money but in the end Vick bought the horse.

“She wants to win and she don’t mind working and she loves the horses. Why wouldn’t I buy a good horse?” Vick said.

Since she’s going to be showing horses anyways, Vick said he wanted to give Missy Jean the best chance he could at winning.

It wasn’t an accident. It wasn’t a heat of the moment decision. And, when asked if he’d do it again, without hesitation Vick said yes.

Everybody Wanted Her

Before the sale was even underway, Troy Applegate (the mare’s previous owner) and Dillon Crumpler (his business partner and the listing agent) had been fielding offers for the standout mare.

Once she arrived at the sale, Crumpler made sure that she was viewed by top trainers such as EquiStat Elite $11 Million Rider Austin Shepard and EquiStat Elite $7 Million Rider Adan Banuelos.

They knew she would bring a big price tag, but they weren’t sure how high.

“When I saw that first video it looked like we had something special,” Applegate said. “You just never know. You never know how the economy is and who’s going to be on her. But I felt like Dillon and Shane worked really hard to get the right people on her, and it kind of proved true.”

Applegate is still pinching himself. This is the first year he’s sold horses at the Western Bloodstock sale. He and Crumpler got into business together a few years ago and have partnered to form Cripple Creek Performance Horses.

“We weaned 14 head of foals this year together and that’s the first foal crop we actually bred and raised together,” Crumpler explained.

Crumpler’s father, Craig, bred and raised Jordies Mink before presenting Dillon and his wife, Kellee, with the opportunity to purchase her. From there, Crumpler thought she would be a good opportunity for Applegate to make a small investment.

“It’s a once-in-a-life time opportunity and having people like Dillon and Justin [Chalmers] and Kellee,” Applegate credited his business partners. “Kellee’s got so much knowledge and experience and contacts in the industry, I know enough to be dangerous and I try to surround myself with really knowledgeable people, but really good people, good humans, And I think I found them in Dillon and Kellee.”

As he makes his way through the barns in the days since the big sale, Applegate says many people have told him that this couldn’t have happened to a better group of folks, including the filly’s trainer, Shane Carlon.

Brains to Boot

Jordies Mink is a rarity among high-selling horses for one big reason, Metallic Rey Mink is an unproven sire. When Wood She B Magic (Woody Be Tuff x Magic Metallic x Metallic Cat) sold for $1,050,000 in 2020, her sire had already chalked up over $5 million in offspring earnings.

Metallic Rey Mink earned $205,224 in his show career and was the NCHA Futurity Champion in 2019. He is by EquiStat Elite $71 Milion Sire Metallic Cat and out of Dual Rey Mink (by Dual Rey). His first foal crop, which includes Jordies Mink, is shaping up to put him in contention for top freshman sire honors when they reach futurity-age next year.

According to American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) records, he sired 98 foals in 2022. They will hit the show pen next year for their futurity season and the industry is swelling with excitement for the Minks.

“I’ve talked to several guys that are riding them and they all say how good they are, just good-minded,” Missy Jean said.

In Crumpler’s opinion, Jordies Mink falls into that category.

“There’s several big things about this mare that separate her from anything else I’ve ever seen,” Crumpler said, but went on to mention the main one. “First of all, her thought process and her maturity in her mind at such a young age. I mean, it’s so far above anything I’ve ever witnessed. Her thought process and her maturity, it’s unbelievable.”

Missy Jean said the young mare was being compared to Kittenish (Hottish x Show Biz Kitty x High Brow Cat) and Wood She B Magic in the days leading up to the sale.

Moving forward, Missy Jean is excited to show the young mare and eventually breed her to their stallion Shooga Rey Leonard (Stevie Rey Von x Miss Lacey x Kit Kat Sugar). Vick is excited to watch it all happen. The team that brought the mare to the sale will most likely invest their profit right back into horses.

“She’s just one of those horses. She just has the it-factor,” Missy Jean said.