1968-Voice Of The Tennessee Walking Horse 1968 November Voice RS | Page 11

BEAU GENTRY was beginning to fade and he was
blowing hard. All Lonny could think about was the
step-by-step instructions that he had been given to
assure his victory, and at this moment he decided
' To hell with it” ... if he couldn’t win it without help
he didn’t want it. With a feeling as vivid as if he were
still there in that ring, he watched himself kick BEAU
GENTRY into a flat-foot walk on the reverse. He re­
membered the events of the next few minutes as if it
were the present. His mind was somewhat confused
as he tried to recall what happened after the canter.
He found himself glued to the monitor as if some deep
dark mystery were unfolding. He recalled that he had
been warned to stay away from the bay horse and
that there would be a certain other trainer that was
going to ride herd on the only other horse that could
be considered stiff competition. As he watched the
screen with anxious anticipation, he was startled by
the sobering voice of Darrell Daniels saying, "Well,
Lonny . . . here is where you made your big pass.
Would you like to tell us about it?”
Lonny eased up on the front of his chair as he
watched the events on the monitor in the television
studio. "Ah . . . well, here you can see a good view
of two of the other top horses in the class. I guess
when this was being taken I was just coming up the
back side. I saw the bay horse getting put into posi­
tion by his rider and decided that I could beat him
at his own game, so I cut the north turn short in or­
der to catch him. There! There . . .” he almost shout­
ed his enthusiasm, "you can see his rider looking
back at us as we cut across. He is going to make a
run for it to try and beat me to the south turn and a
big pass in front of the big grandstand.” At this mom­
ent the camera moved back to cover two more horses
coming down in front of the grandstand, and Lonny
paused. The camera suddenly picked up two horses
coming around the far turn and Lonny spoke up with­
out thinking, "Doc . . . this is what they told me not
to do. Watch here as I made my move. See how old
BEAU picked up steam as he pulled up next to that
other horse. He is a great competitor! Now right here
. . . right here is where BEAU GENTRY did some­
thing that I’ve never seen before. He actually eased
that other horse right out of gear. I’m not sure what
he did, but somehow he got that other horse so mess­
ed up that he looked bad when we hit the straight­
away. See how his rider is jerking at the reins trying
to get him collected? And we never touched him!”
. As the monitor camera faded and the live camera
turned back to those in the studio, Lonny Barnes was
exhausted. Darrell Daniels . . . always eager to get
all the news . . . said, "Lonny, what did you mean
when you said, 'This is what they told me not to do’?”
Dr. Greely looked at his young trainer as if to say,
"Well, you said it . . . don’t look at me!” Wiping his
forehead with his hand, Lonny sat up straight and
said, "Well, I talked about the big stake with a lot of
experienced professionals and they all told me not to
get into a race. That’s what I meant.” Dr. Greely
smiled and settled easy into his chair.
After another commercial the master of ceremonies
went into a general interview to fill the remainder of
the thirty-minute show. "What now, Lonny? What is in
story for our new World Champion trainer and horse?”
Lonny had taken a drink of water since narrating the
movie and was in good voice as he said, "Well, Darrell
... I guess we will exhibit BEAU GENTRY several
November, 1968
times before the first of the year. We have been invit­
ed to one of the bowl games and will probably accept
that invitation, and I have several other interviews
with national magazines, and a film service wants to
come out and take some pictures, and we have been
asked to pose for several commercials, and . . .” Mr.
Daniels broke into his conversation, saying, "Whoa,
hoss! It looks as if you will have a full schedule!”
Turning to Dr. Greely, he said, "Do you plan to retire
him, Doctor?” The man who had been involved with
this big black stallion for so long looked right into the
camera and said, "No, sir! I think a World Champion
should defend his title. Besides, GEAU GENTRY is
just now a five-year-old and he is not yet in his prime.
Besides that, we have more studs now than we know
what to do with.” Lonny almost fell out of his chair,
as this was news to him. The congenial host of the
show stood up and shook hands with his two guests.
"Thanks again, fellows, and again congratulations.
You made a great ride on that horse.” Putting his
arm around Lonny’s shou lders, he continued, "And
congratulations on that baby girl. I understand that
your wife Helen missed the Festival for the first time,
but she also did a good job.” Lonny got a sly grin on
his face as he handed Darrell a cigar, saying, "Yep.”
(Continued next month)
JIMMY RICHARDSON, AGENCY
SHELBYVILLE. TENN
"Complete Livestock Insurance"
Tennessee Walker
Underwriters, Inc.
809 Union Street
Shelbyville, Tennessee
BILL TUNE BENV1S BEACHBOARD
615-684-1700 615-275-2285
24 Hour Service
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