12 September , 1962
Celebration Story
( Continued from Page 10 ) Stallion preliminary last night over some o £ the other all-time great show horses of the breed definitely projected him and his 24-year-old rider , Douglas Wolaver of Giles County , into the favorite ' s seal . Handshaker is six years old , and it appeared impossible that any four-year-old in the world could beat back this 1961 champion plus several other five-year-old and six-year-old contenders , stallions , geldings and mares . Handshaker is currently jointly owned by Myron Wolaver , father of Douglas , and Nelson Gibson of Brookhaven , Miss ., who is rapidly becoming one of the nation ' s prime Tennessee Walking Horse advocates after long adherence to another breed . It has been said that Gibson insisted upon Handshaker being used this year primarily as a show horse rather than for stud service — and he is largely sponsoring the great stallion ’ s comeback efforts this year .
Another stallion with years in his heart projected himself into the running at last night ' s showing when the eloquent Edony Masterpiece — with Sam Paschal in the saddle — fought with Handshaker all the way . Masterpiece was the World ’ s Champion Two-Year-Old at the 1959 Celebration , was unable to be trained in 1960 due to an injury , ( bowed tendon ) returned to the track late in 1961 but was held out of the Celebration , and began his new swing with a string of 30 blue ribbons in 34 shows during the winter and spring season .
The huge crowd picked the whitecoated Wolaver with 205 on his back during the final workout and rocked the stands with cheers at intervals when he swept various sectors of the track . Paschal ' s No . 2 came a dose second for youthful Mr . and Mrs . Billy Hale of Gallatin , Tenn ., almost newcomers to the Walking Horse world of contenders . Steve Hill rode Spirit of Midnight to third place for Jack Delay of Nashville ; and Harold Kennedy took Triple Threat into fourth place for Mr . and Mrs . Glenn Turner ’ s Circle T Ranch , Roanoke , Texas ., Route 1 — 20 miles from Dallas . Triple Threat was sold to the Turners in the spring by former All-American L . S . U . end and later coach , Gaynell Tinsley of Baton Rouge , La .
12 Judged in Workout All 12 horses judged in the final workout last night are eligible for the
Grand Championship Stake effort Saturday night . Running in the six behind the four frontrunners were : fifth , Society Playboy , Neal Branscum up for Troy G . Arnold , Winchester ; sixth , Tom Dooley , Alton Pierce up for Jadaway Stables , Atlanta , Ga .; seventh , Mighty Sun ( 1961 reserve grand champion ), Elmore Brock up for Mr . and Mrs . J . R . Lewis , Georgetown , Ky .; eighth , Society Mack K , Buddy Kirby up for Mullen & Urquhart , Cookeville and Columbia , Tenn .; ninth , Go Boy ’ s Big Talk ( reserve junior champion Three-Year-Olds in 1961 ); and tenth , Black Gold , Donald Paschal up for Mr . and Mrs . Hugh Gillen , Chesapeake , O .
There were 41 entries in this class — the greatest ever for stallions of this age — and 22 remained after the original cutoff . It took approximately one hour and 30 minutes to complete the class — halted several times by timeout for equipment breakage .
Prior Lo this march of the mighty stallions came the heart-warming showing of Walking Ponies ridden by juveniles , 14 years and under . This kept the growing crowd in smiles , laughter and tears for many minutes . The first place trophy and blue ribbon went to that young veteran — Melissa Jones — riding her own Melissa ’ s Power Pack . Melissa is the daughter of Dr . and Mrs . Ogle Jones of Centerville , Tenn .— for years a factor in Tennessee Walking Horse shows .
Other leaders in the pony event were : second , Go Boy ’ s Star with Bobby Simpson up for Clay Simpson , Bowling Green , Ky .; third , Go Boy ’ s Black Star , Debbie Diehl up for John F . Diehl , Jonesboro , Tenn .; fourth , Lil ’ Abner , Susan Hunter up for Hunter Funeral Home , Sparta , Tenn .
Pat Kimbro of Atlanta , Ga ., staked a partial claim to Owner-Amateur championship honors to be determined in the Saturday night stake by piloting his gelding , Yankee Doodle , to first place in the preliminary on Walking Geldings , any age . There were 37 other entries , the other three frontrunners being : second , Go Boy ’ s Falcon , ( 1961 champion in this preliminary event ), ridden by Lewis Aita , Franklin , Tenn .; third , Sun ’ s Blue Boy , Dr . W . L . Cooley of Boaz , Ala . up ; fourth , Mr . Mac , Frank Metcalf of Sparta , Tenn ., up .
A large majority of the immense crowd remained ( as usual ) to see the Colored Grooms on Walking Horses event during which Clark Howells ,
Shelbyville groom riding bareback with only a halter on his horse , threw the throng into stitches . He completed his “ special showing ’’ with an imitation of a Walking Horse " doing all seven gaits " like the great Roan Allen F-38 used to do in the Tennessee State Fair — surely the greatest track competition ever done by a Walking Horse .
While the wild-riding Shelbyville comedian was providing laughs — other grooms went about the serious business and staged a great class . Top honors went to Miss Sunbeam , ridden in sincere and steady fashion by Brother Wilson for the H . C . Bailey Stables of Jackson , Miss ., where Brother is a helper to Trainer-Manager Eddie Wiser , Shelbyville native son . The other top three in the class were ;
Second , Go Shadow Boy with Tommy Burton , Jr ., up for Mr . and Mrs . Frank Parnell , Newbern , Tenn .; third , Georgia Peach with Louis Shearer up for Robert O . Locke , Fort Wayne , Ind .; fourth , Hill ' s Go Boy with Andy Riley up for Mr . and Mrs . Nyle Graham , Meridian , Miss .
Non-Walking events were won by : Five-Gaited Mares of Geldings , Moonlight Supreme , Marion Neil up for Neil ' s Parts Rebuilders , Nashville ; Three-Gaited Mares or Geldings , juveniles riding . Earth Angel , Sue Hammond up for R . H . Hammond Co ., Hialeah , Fla .; Roadster to Bike , Crescent Boy , driven by bare-headed oldtimer B . H . McChesney for Mac ’ s Auto Sales , New Orleans , La .
FRIDAY NIGHT ( Written Saturday , 6 a . m )
Friday night at the Celebration became “ Texas Night ” as the Lone Star Slate scored three successive world ’ s championships in a sweepfrom the “ oldest class ’’ on the schedule to the very youngest . It was a performance without precedent in history of the World ’ s greatest Horse Show — and it puts somewhat into a shadow whatever may happen tonight ( Saturday ) as the 24th annual Tennessee Walking National Celebration goes into a background and people say “ wait until next year — it will be the 25th Anniversary .”
It is best to tell what happened Friday night in slow motion , consecutive fashion so you can relive the thrills .
First came the " old folks ” class with Owner-Amateur on Walking
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