Suzanne and Henning Koch of Stevinson, California, paid $1,000 to breed their Appaloosa mare Chan’s Royal Cricket to Quarter Horse legend Sugar Bars. That sum may not seem like much now, but in 1969 it was a small fortune. The Koches took a gamble on the breeding knowing the stud fee didn’t guarantee a colored foal. Their gamble paid off when Sugar Bars’ only Appaloosa foal, Double Or Nothin, was born on January 26, 1970. Suzanne has said about Double Or Nothin, “If we could’ve drawn him, he couldn’t have turned out any better.”
Suzanne got her start with Appaloosas as a pre-teen when she bought the white mare named “Cricket” with $400 saved from baby-sitting. Suzanne later registered her with the ApHC as Chan’s Royal Cricket after the mare produced a blanketed foal by a Quarter Horse stallion. Cricket became the foundation of the Koches’ Appaloosa breeding program.
By the time of Double Or Nothin’s birth, Cricket had lost her eyesight to age, so the Koches tied a bell to the foal’s neck. One day the Koch family returned home to find the mare and the bell, but no foal. With the help of local law enforcement, the Koches recovered Double Or Nothin a few days later and tried to reintroduce the 3-month-old and his bell to Cricket, but she wouldn’t accept him back.
The Koches raised Double Or Nothin, and started him at the track as a 2-year-old. He earned $3,088.53 with a 9-2-1-1 record before switching to a performance career. As a show horse, Double Or Nothin compiled 108 points, five registers of merit, a versatility championship, a bronze medallion for competitive trail riding and two silver medallions for steer daubing.
Double Or Nothin sired 118 registered foals. Twenty-seven of his get earned a total of 1,731.3 performance points, 40 bronze medallions, three superior achievement certificates, 48 registers of merit and five versatility championships.
Double Or Nothin died on October 15, 1994. At the time this issue went to press, he was the oldest stallion ranked as a leading sire of performance winners.
