MURRAY FARM SALE PRODUCES MUCH-NEEDED BOOST FOR
Triple Threat Brings Record S43,000 At Auction
The 1965 Murray Farm Sale provided a much-needed " shot in the arm” for the Walking Horse business. After a long wet winter, in which very little activity took place anywhere, the business needed something to crow about and the Spring edition of the famous sale provided the action.
Probably the most promoted and anticipated sale in years, this year’ s Beech & Yokley spectacular attracted more horses than ever before and also attracted more top horses than anyone ever dreamed wouldbe auctioned. Highlight of the week’ s activities was the sale of the fabulous Triple Threat. A drawing card to saj ' the least, the big bay- owned by C. E. CLEMENT. W. CLYDE ABERNATHY and J. E. SHERILL of Hickory, North Carolina when he made his second bid for World Championship Honors in the ' 64 Celebration- packed the big tent on the hill with an overflow crowd on Friday evening.
When the sale officially opened on Thursday morning, April 29, it was anybody’ s guess as to the tempo of the sale. It soon became apparent, however, that a trend was in the making when a lot of good horses sold at fair prices and very few " no sales” were registered. One nicelooking horse brought a top bid of five hundred and twenty-five dollars and, when asked about it, the rider stated, " That’ s exactly what 1 wanted for him.” This seemed to indicate the frame of mind of most buyers. They came here to move some fair stock to make room for better horses... and it paid off.
WALKENS HORSE BUSINESS
In our opinion, this is a healthy sign for the business. A lot of people were able to purchase good horses at a fair price who otherwise would have gone home empty-handed. We now have a lot of good Walking Pleasure Horses, with good papers, located in other parts of the country to help spread the word about the versatile Tennessee Walking Horse.
This is not to say that there were no top horses to go through the sale. There were, in fact, more recognized top horses to change hands this year than ever before. To mention a few: Mi Tennessee Stud changed hands for $ 13,000; Lil’ s Major brought $ 7,500; Merry Motion Maker reached S12,000 before going; and Ebony’ s Black Lady topped the Junior horse ■bracket with a top price of $ 10,000. These are typical of the many excellent Tennessee Walking Horses that were sold during the three-day sale.
Speaking of Ebony’ s Black Lady, she was the highlight of the week’ s activities of Dr. RALPH. E. BANEY of Kansas City, Missouri, owner of the Red Bridge Stables and Midnight Secret. Dr. Baney purchased a total of $ 52,000 worth of Walking Horse stock during the three-day sale. He is currently concentrating on good brood stock, but decided that Ebony’ s Black Lady would be a definite asset to the Red Bridge Stables as a show horse.
Dr. Baney broke another record when he bid an unprecedented $ 7,200 for a top brood mare safe in foal to Go Boy’ s Shadow, maintaining that this mare and an outstanding foal will aid his growing breeding program tremendously.
An estimated 518 registered Tennessee Walking Horses went under the hammer during the three-day sale, but it was Triple Threat that the crowd came to see. This horse, who has become a legend in his own time, captured the spotlight when BUDDY BLACK, riding for his owners, brought the twice-Reserve World Champion into the tent. Dr. DEWITT OWENS gave a short report oh the excellent physical condition of the horse and, simultaneously, Buddy Black said, " Comeup”... PETE YOK LEY hollered, " What am I bid?”... and the ring attendant closest to the auctioneer’ s stand yelled " TWENTY THOUSAND DOLLARS!” From here on, it was pandemonium! The sale tempo finally reached forty-two thousand, five hundred dollars. It is reported that many had bid on the horse, including ROY and BONNIE DAVIS of Calhoun, Georgia; Dr. RALPH E. BANEY of Kansas City, Missouri; JOE TILLETT of Shelbyville; and several others.
As the bidding stalled, Joe Tillett asked his twelve-year-old daughter JUDY to ride Triple Threat around the tent. This attractive young miss climbed aboard the big horse with all the confidence of a professional and made a perfect show of it. Pleased with what he had just seen, Mr. HANK SHEELY of Dallas, Texas moved up front and, with a little counsel from VIC THOMPSON, bid $ 43,000.00 for Triple Threat.
Mr. PETE YOKLEY and Mr. S. W. BEECH deserve the commendation of the entire Walking Horse public for the 1965 Murray Farm Sale. In our opinion they have contributed greatly to the stature of the breed and have done a great job ofbuilding up what was already an established annual event in the Walking Horse world. We believe that a lot of confidence was generated here this year and that the sale will have a material effect on the business throughout the year.
If you missed the Murray Farm Sale, be sure to put it on your list of " must” activities for 1966. Remember the annual " Sale of Showring Champions” that will be held during the week of the Celebration at the new Beech-Yokley Sale property just east of the Celebration grounds. It will be a good place to shop for horses with confidence. Remember the words of Mr. Yokley, however: " To keep Tennessee green, you must bring money.”
12 VOICE of the Tennessee Walking Horse