#57 Red Wasp

By Angie Gentry, Publisher Buckin' Stock Magazine
Posted Wednesday, June 25, 2008

During the mid ‘90’s, 57 Red Wasp was well known for his small stature and exceptional bucking ability. Nowadays he is known as a sire of quality bucking bulls and females that produce buckers.

Red Wasp was raised by Charlie Plummer. He was sold as a young bull on Plummer’s dispersal sale. After changing hands from Terry Gross to Larry Wyche, the bull ended up on David Bailey’s truck.

“I bought him off Larry Wyche and then a couple of years later he wanted him back so he traded me some horses for that bull,” Bailey said.

“He was a little red bull with high horns and a big heart. He would always put out all his effort. What made him so difficult to ride was he had so much action and he was hard to get a hold of with your feet or your knees. He was a very bucky, electric little bull,” Bailey said.

Bailey hauled Red Wasp to his first of five appearances at the National Finals Rodeo.

“I did not ever breed with him. I had other bulls and I just didn’t use him. It was probably a mistake on my part but that was before the breeding thing got to rolling pretty good,” Bailey said.

After Wyche traded Bailey out of Red Wasp, he consigned the bull to Texarkana’s sale where Vernon Guidry purchased him.

Guidry said he liked the bull’s bucking ability and was impressed by how much power the small bull had. “His size versus his electricity and athleticism was impressive. He was so quick and so alert and he only weighed about 1,150 pounds,” Guidry said.

Guidry hauled Red Wasp to four more NFR appearances before retiring the bull. He also used Red Wasp as a herd bull and got about four calf crops from him.

One of the most well known bulls sired by Red Wasp is Guidry’s 58 Lil Wasp. Lil Wasp has been to the NFR, PBR Finals and CBR Finals and is now being used as a sire as well.

Danny Mason’s Wild Onion is another Red Wasp son. Wild Onion was a top Classic bull before injury cut his promising career short.

David Bailey also hauled a Red Wasp son, 106 Toy Tiger. Toy Tiger had a first class career and has started to prove himself as a sire as well. X43 Billionaire, an NFR and PBR Finals bull also hauled by David Bailey, is a son of 106 Toy Tiger.

Although there have been many other great Red Wasp sons, Guidry said Red Wasp’s true siring ability is seen in his females. “He was more of a heifer producer as far as ultimate quality. As a female producer he’s extraordinary,” Guidry said.

In 2007, the top two earning three-year-olds in the industry were out of Red Wasp daughters.

Lynn Griffin and Toby Lindley’s 4 Red Kat earned nearly $48,000 in 2007. He was the NBBA Derby year-end champion. He was also one of the top ten derby and classic bulls in earnings and was the eleventh highest-earning aged event bull in the industry for 2007.

Another maternal grandson of Red Wasp is Jones Rodeo Genetics’ Apollo 1. RJ 661 Apollo 1 is a Sky King son out of a Red Wasp daughter. In 2007, he topped the industry in three-year-old earnings, racking up nearly $68,000. He was also the NBBA Classic Finals Champion and the seventh highest earning aged event bull in the industry.

Apollo has continued his winning streak into 2008 with four event wins at the NBBA Cowtown Classic Spectacular, the Lufkin NBBA Classic, the Tuff Hedeman NBBA Classic and the ABBI Stephenville Classic. At press, Apollo 1’s 2008 earnings are already near $40,000, putting his total career earnings over the $100,000 mark.

As time goes on we are sure to see more of these maternal grandsons surface.

One thing that makes the Red Wasp line so special is its exclusivity. It’s not a bloodline that’s in every herd and those who have Red Wasp genetics don’t seem to be turning loose of them. Red Wasp semen has commanded top dollar, even selling for over $1,700 per straw in some cases.

Perhaps that rarity is why Red Wasp isn’t talked about as much as some of today’s more popular sires. He has been called one of the most underrated Plummer sires by some breeders but with his sons and daughters now proving their producing power it seems he’ll soon get the credit he deserves.