Wild Hope raced for two years, but he didn’t get the chance to finish his Appaloosa Racing Hall of Fame campaign on the track. After suffering a career-ending injury to a sesamoid bone, his greatness emerged as a sire.
Bred by R.V. Moore of Bristow, Oklahoma, Wild Hope was by Johnny Bull (AQHA) and out of ApHC-registered mare Alberta Mott Doolin. The mare also held registration as Alberta Doolin with the American Quarter Horse Association before the associated revoked her papers in 1971.
Jim Wild of Sarcoxie, Missouri, purchased Alberta Mott Doolin with Wild Hope at her side in 1963. He registered the blue roan colt and started him on the track as a 2-year-old. Wild Hope suffered his injury as a 3-year-old, and Jim rehabilitated the colt against the advice of his friends who thought Wild Hope would never recover. Wild Hope’s injury healed enough for him to stand as a breeding stallion. Jim sold him in 1969 to Jake and Bobby Joe Snipes of Clovis, New Mexico.
Nancy Sanderson wrote about Wild Hope’s success as a sire in the March 1979 issue of Appaloosa News, “In 1972 a new sire of winners appeared — Wild Hope. Every inch an Appaloosa from his nose to his toes, he traced back to such illustrious ancestors as Teddy (JC), Man O’ War (JC) and, through his dam, to the immortal Joe Reed II (AQHA). [Wild Hope’s] son Wildrooz was among the top money winners of 1972, and in 1973 Wild Hope was tied for first-place sire withWar Don.”
Wild Hope sired 150 foals during his nine-year career as a breeding stallion. His get include 61 race starters, 34 winners, five stakes winners, five medallion winners and one champion. The stallion Hope Straw, out of Equal Straw, tops the list of Wild Hope’s money earners with $16,560.16 in total winnings. He’s followed by Spotted Hope, out of Miss Cufflette (ID), a stallion who earned $15,633.01. The mare some called “the Ruffian of Appaloosas,” Wild Tequila, was Wild Hope’s third-highest money earner. Out of Vandy Tequila (ApHC), Wild Tequila earned $13,134.92.
The stallion also sired point earners in halter and performance who claimed seven bronze medallions and one superior achievement certificate.
