1967-Voice Of The Tennessee Walking Horse 1967 December Voice | Page 24

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R&R STABLES
The R&R Stables, having completed its first year
of operation, is now busy preparing for the coming
show season. Trainer Howard Roberts will be bring­
ing out one of Missouri’s top show strings next spring.
Heading the list again will be the great stud, GO
BOY’S HI FLY, who will be shown by owner Jim
Re ary in amateur classes and will contend in stake
classes with Howard Roberts up.
Their leading junior contender will be HANDSHAK­
ER’S JOY, a beautiful sorrel filly who could be a real
contender for the roses in the Junior mare class next
August, as she has all the ingredients of a champion.
One of the most talked-about horses in Missouri is
MAGIC’S BETTY WHITE, an outstanding three-year-
old mare that is owned by Ronnie and Vera Blackwell
of Salem, Mo. This is an extremely gifted young mare
who is a half sister to both World’s Champion MAGIC
KNIGHT and THE WITCH DOCTOR.
Another big winner from the R & R Stables should
be the magnificent five-year-old stud, STEPPING SUN.
He was shown last season by his young owner, David
Roberts, and they walked away with 26 blue ribbons
which made him the high-point horse of the Tri-county
Mineral Area Association.
Everyone connected with the stable was shocked
and saddened by the unexpected death of SUN’S IN­
SPIRATION. This spectacular black gelding was shown
by his eleven-year-old owner, Phil Ziske, and the pair
had become quite a successful team.
A lot of excitement has been generated by the re­
cent purchase of MIDNIGHT FOOL ALL by Adam
and Mary Ann Thomann of Salem. This colt is a big,
handsome, double grandson of the immortal MID­
NIGHT SUN, and is every inch a top show prospect.
Under the direction of Howard Roberts he should
develop into an outstanding show horse.
A new addition to the show string is a beautiful
black roan stallion, RODGER’S ACE. This fine young
horse has model conformation. He is a grandson of
MERRY GO BOY, and out of a WILSON ALLEN
mare, and can claim LAST CHANCE and SIR MAU
GRAY among his ancestors. In the two months that
he has been with Howard Roberts, he has shown a
great deal of progress. This handsome black stud,
who is owned by the Roberts Farms of Salem, could
develop into one of the major surprises of 1968.
LEECH STABLES
Watching Marianne and J. T. Leech work horses is
like seeing an assembly line. They work hard all day
long and with the assistance of Glen Sylar get one
under saddle while the last one is being cooled out.
They have some good young stock including a good
filly by SUN’S DELIGHT that is owned by Mr. and
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Mrs. Ben Kotch of New Orleans. Mr. A. A. Mabus
owns a fine pair of two-year-olds, both by SUN’S
DELIGHT, and also has SUN’S MAGIC MARKER
and PRIDE OF MISSISSIPPI, both Junior horses,
in training. Bill Kuehl of Colgate, Wisconsin has a
good two-year-old stud in training and Mr. Charles
Patton has two fillies that are coming along well.
Three-year-olds are plentiful and EBONY’S ANGEL,
owned by Mr. Charles Patton, is one of the best. Mrs.
Gene Warner of Tullahoma, Tennessee has a three-
year-old gelding in training that is doing quite well
and Mr. B. Earl Puckett, a long-standing customer of
the Leechs, has a black gelding in training. L. A.
Garce of St. Louis has a SUN’S DELIGHT mare that
is hitting big and Ralph Lowe of New Orleans has a
fine black MIDNIGHT SUN stallion that is showing
progress. STAR GRAY JR. is the name of a fine
three-year-old stallion owned by Margaret Ann Cun­
ningham.
Heading the list of Junior horses for 1968 is, of
course, SUN’S CREATOR, a great horse with a big
future. He is owned by J. W. Talbot of Waukesha,
Wisconsin, who also has several other horses in train­
ing. BLAZE OF PERFECTION is another fine Junior
horse. He is owned by Mrs. Paul Wolff.
A big item of news is the recent sale of SHOT GUN,
the outstanding black stud owned by Jimmy Gray and
trained by J. T. Leech for the past few months. He
will be a Junior horse in 1968 and, according to re­
ports, brought top dollar. He is owned by Babb &
Ledford and will be shown by Jim Babb of Fort Ogle­
thorpe, Georgia.
VIC THOMPSON STABLES
Middle Tennessee has been buzzing about all the
activity at Vic Thompson’s lately. Marvin Wilson, an
experienced trainer with proven ability, is now work­
ing with Vic and everything is going strong.
In addition to several top horses acquired from Blue
Bonnet Stables in Dallas, Texas, Vic also has made
a recent purchase of some top stock from the C. M.
Waters Stables in Mississippi. Right after obtaining
the stock from Texas, Vic and Marvin headed south
to take on the Deep South shows and did very well
with several, including GO BOY’S CHATTERBOX
and EBONY’S SENATOR. The "Senator,” as he is
now called, has attracted a lot of attention and ap­
pears to be headed for the big time himself as a Jun­
ior horse in 1968.
Buying and selling has long since become Vic’s
motive and he has topped just about all records since
the Celebration. On the plus side of the ledger have
been THE NEW LOOK, a top mare that went to Mrs.
R. S. Barnwell with Bill Hutson doing the training;
SPECIAL’S SONATA, another fine age mare that was
purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Ed Hubbard of North
Carolina. They should do well with her! Also . . . 01’
Toughy . . . CONFEDERATE RAIDER was sold to
Loretta Noe of Fort Gay, West Virginia.
Dr. C. L. Sexton of South Carolina, is reported to
have recently purchased GO BOY’S CHATTERBOX for
his granddaughter, Candace Williams to show in Open
Amateur Classes.
WINK GROOVER STABLES
A recent trip to the Wink Groover Stables really
set us back on our heels. We usually expect to see a
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VOICE of the Tennessee Walking Horse