1968-Voice Of The Tennessee Walking Horse 1968 September/October Voice RS | Page 60

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Celebrations are made of and remembered for the World Grand Champions they crown , and 1968 will be no exception . The big show takes many hours but none is so important as that final hour on stake night .
The honor of representing the breed as the 1968 World Champion was bestowed on the versatile GO BOY ' S ROYAL HEIR and Donald Paschal Nearly everyone at the Celebration was glad to see Donald win this elusive championship , for he has spent many years in pursuit of it . But sentiment alone cannot win the world title , and that was certainly not the case this year .
ROYAL HEIR is a proven eight-year-old stallion who has answered many challenges in his showring career . He answered his most important one on Saturday , September 7 at midnight when twenty strong challengers entered the ring with nothing on their minds but beating the favorites , ROYAL HEIR and Donald .
Donald and his horse moved into the favorites ’ position on Wednesday night with a victory in the aged stallion preliminary , a class that had 60 entries . Donald did it under less than favorable conditions and many voiced the opinion that " the horse won ’ t be able to keep up in the mud .” Well , they were wrong , and ROYAL HEIR has the blue ribbon to prove it . Mud or no mud , he was adjudged better than 59 other top studs from all over the country .
Donald and ROYAL HEIR did not win the title without a stiff fight from several contenders who are champions in their own right . The most persistent was the popular ENTERTAINER and Joe Webb ( as if you didn ’ t already know ). Joe and his horse are battle-tested many times over , and while supporters of this great horse are deeply disappointed over the results of September 7 , they can certainly hold their heads high and take heart in the knowledge that their
favorite team will be back next year . The championship was decided in the final fourhorse workout when the judges picked ROYAL HEIR , THE ENTERTAINER , ACE ’ S SENSATION and GO BOY ’ S BLACK ANGEL to do battle for the blue . It was no place for the faint-hearted as each horse pulled out all the stops in an effort to win . Each had its great moments in front of the judges and two of the judges marked the number of ROYAL HEIR while the third voted for THE ENTERTAINER . It was a great victory for Donald and a hard loss for Joe .
Regardless of one ’ s own personal choice , it is easy to see the other side in the battle of these two great
horses . ROYAL HEIR has had a checkered career with his ups and downs . He had been under several top professionals before Donald took over in 1967 . Buddy Hugh and Steve Hill , to mention just two , have both handled the horse and both are still high in their praise and admiration for him . The last two years certainly emphasize the versatility of this great horse . He has not been beaten in
two years and has two World Championships to show for his efforts , one achieved last year against amateur
competition and one this year against open horses . Quite a feat , and a real credit to all connected with ROYAL HEIR .
The victory by GO BOY ’ S ROYAL HEIR continues the domination of stallions , as the last time that a
stallion did not win the Grand Championship was
' way back in 1954 when the mare WHITE STAR turned the trick . Also , GO BOY ’ S ROYAL HEIR is the third horse sired by MERRY GO BOY to win the title , the others being GO BOY ’ S SHADOW in 1955 and 1956 , and last year ’ s champion , GO BOY ’ S SUN DUST . It is interesting to note that the victory of a GO BOY horse came on the 20th anniversary of the famed sire ’ s last Celebration win in 1948 .
In the Grand Championship stake the quality of horses has never been higher . The third place horse , ACE ’ S SENSATION , and Wink Groover tried the impossible ; coming back the night after their victory in the Junior Stake . It was a magnificent bid by a great horse and rider , and it was almost a successful effort .
The fourth place tie went to the great mare , GO BOY ’ S BLACK ANGEL , and Charlie Bobo . As we just pointed out , mares have not been conspicuous for their showings in championships in recent years , but Bobo and his horse were in contention all the way . Another horse who has made a magnificent comeback is MAN OF RHYTHM with Boyd Hudgins . This horse won the Junior World Championship in 1966 but suffered a severe injury last year and was virtually forgotten as far as 1968 was concerned . Boyd ’ s horse never made a mistake and many thought he should have been put in the final workout . Boyd was upset about being left out of the final working , but this horse has time ahead of him .
The 1966 World ’ s Grand Champion , SHAKER ’ S SHOCKER , and Betty Sain showed in the stake but
did not receive a ribbon . They tied tenth in the stallion preliminary class earlier in the week .
The Reserve World Champion of 1967 , MR . GLO , and Elmore Brock tied sixth in the stake and fourth in the stallion preliminary . Total Celebration attendance suffered its first loss in many years with the total dropping by nearly
14,000 paid admissions from last year . The 1968 attendance was 109,457 , while 123,242 turned out in 1967 . The forced postponement of Thursday night classes to Friday afternoon was the principal cause of the gate loss even though the final night ’ s crowd of 1968 was 2,000 below the previous year ’ s figure . The postponement this year was only the second one in the thirty-year history of the show . The Junior Walking Horse Championship was decided on Friday night with 21 horses competing for the title . The winner , with Wink Groover up , was the popular ACE ’ S SENSATION , the Three-Year-Old Champion of 1967 .
Wink and his horse dominated the class after winning the stallion preliminary earlier in the week . The
horse was sold twice during the Celebration with the final owner being Randall Rollins of Sugarloaf Farms , Atlanta , Georgia . The prices were not disclosed but six figures were popular in discussion about the sale .
ACE and Wink tried to do the impossible and come back Saturday night to win the Grand Championship . This effort was almost successful as ACE tied third giving a tremendous account of himself . The championship stake was the third strenuous class that ACE was called on to make , and the powerful black stud never gave up .
The reserve award in the Junior Championship was won by SUN ’ S CHAPARRAL and John T . Carter . John T . tied reserve in this class last year on WAR- LOCK . The third award was won by Albert Rowland on SUN ’ S SECRET AGENT , while the fourth place tie went to David Welsh on the potentially great
60 Voice of the Tennessee Walking Horse