KG JusticeWeExpected Joins Elite Club of $1 Million Producers

In 2017, Kathy Grimes qualified for the National Finals Rodeo aboard a quick-footed black mare she called Issy. Registered as KG JusticeWeExpected, Issy earned over $461,000 during her time in the arena. Winning in aged events, professional rodeos, and earning the 2018 American Semi-Finals Championship, Issy made a huge splash in the barrel racing scene.

Just a few short years later, she is now leaving a substantial mark on the industry as a producer. With winning offspring by 12 different sires, Issy recently crossed a major milestone as a $1 million producer.

The story does not begin with Issy, however. In the late 1990s, Grimes began what would become a lifelong passion and career in breeding. Her family had raised a young stallion named Beaus Scoop Of Sun and Grimes purchased a mare from her sister, as she was being retired from competition. 

That mare, Jodalito Cielo, had four foals by three different sires and they all proved themselves in the arena as winners. Grimes quickly took note of the importance of “mare power.”

One of those foals, Do It For Beau, was out of Jodalito Cielo and by Beaus Scoop Of Sun. With old-school race breeding like Azure Te and Triple Chick further back in her pedigree, Do It For Beau was showing a lot of promise inside the arena. 

After losing the mare’s dam and sire, Grimes was  looking for a way to continue her breeding program. With the advancements of modern medicine, Grimes found her answer: embryo transfer. 

Selecting Judge Cash as the sire, the Medical Lake, Washington veterinarian took the next step in her journey in 2006.  Born in 2007, Issy is a product of Grimes’ first endeavor into uncharted territory, creating and flushing the embryo herself. 

With a deep history in the maternal line of her program, Nine Oh Barrel Horses, Grimes has selected a variety of stallions over the years to pair with Issy. Just like their dam, those offspring have won at every level from aged events to professional rodeos. 

KG Jukebox Hero is Issy’s highest earner at $245,827. Sired by Blazin Jetolena, the stallion is now playing his own role in Grimes’ breeding program. 

Grimes’ 2025 futurity standout, KG Just Money by PC Frenchmans Hayday comes in at No. 2 with $177,160 in earnings. We have highlighted “Showie” multiple times this year, including a major win in South Jordan, Utah recently. Grimes and Showie set a new arena record at the Bastian Agricultural Center in South Jordan, Utah and won the Red Rocket Futurity Championship.

Issy now joins an elite club of broodmares to produce $1 million in progeny earnings (PE). One could say it runs in the family, with Do It For Beau’s PE exceeding $861,000. While we so often talk about the stallions siring today’s top winners, this story is an incredible reminder of how one great mare can change a program forever.