Smith of Perry, OK.[1]: 101  As a late weanling, he was sold to Ira S. Lethco of Fort Stockton, TX, and was later purchased as a yearling by Ford Harris and his son-in-law Kirk Coffman, also from Texas.

The stallion's pedigree was that of a horse bred to run, and as a yearling prospect, his conformation had the desirable traits of form to function, including a long hip, deep chest and depth of girth.

[1]: 103 Billy Bush was manager of the racing operation for Harris, and was also the first to nickname the young stallion "Freckles" because of all the sorrel spots on his blaze and stockings.

Bush started Freckles under saddle as a 2-year-old before sending him to racehorse trainer, Bubba Cascio, who had trained the legendary Dash For Cash.

As it turned out, Freckles simply did not have the speed necessary to make the cut for the All American Futurity or other races of that quality; his best AQHA SI was only 55.

Shorty Freeman, who rode Doc O'Lena to win the 1970 NCHA World Championship Futurity, Open Division, was also recruited along with Welch to train and show Freckles.

The three entries sired by Freckles comprised one-third of his 1973 crop, and had garnered substantial attention in the go-rounds and Futurity finals.

[6] Building a bloodline group of genetically superior horses that breed true requires breeders to research pedigrees back for many generations to foundation sires and dams.

This helps create consistency by obtaining progeny information and individual performance records, but it also requires the breeder to skillfully match complimentary crosses based on their research.

[10] The principles of this type of selective breeding for success in specific disciplines were noted in a 2013 genomic study that found the Quarter Horse breed is "subdivided into different lines according to skills resulting from distinct selection objectives" and noted "a close relationship between physical characteristics and the function for which the animal is used."