About
J.A. Potts up on Thornton’s Star 1024 (Mexico, MO). 1899
Foaled in 1891 in Bradsfordsville, KY by T. H. Thornton & Son. At 10yrs of age he was sold to J.A. Potts. After Clark & Potts sold the stable in Mexico, Mr. Potts moved to San Antonio, TX for a short time and took Thornton Star with him. Upon his return to Mexico, he sold the stallion to a man in Vermont who then sold him to Montgomery Ward, the founder of the great mail-order house from Chicago. Ward owned him in 1905 where he won the Grand Championship Five-Gaited stake at the International Show at Chicago. Thornton’s Star is said to have defeated Rex McDonald twice…once in Kansas City and once in Mexico. (Although the latter sounds unrealistic, as Rex was a hometown hero horse).
Photo Circa 1899 (courtesy of Audrain County Historical Society-Saddle Horse Museum)
