Buddy Hugh, a professional trainer from Shelbyville, Tennessee, first saw SPECIAL DELIVERY as a rawboned yearling that showed little potential. The colt was bom on Hank Sheely’ s farm in Bloomfield, Kenandis out of the first mare ever to be bred to SUN S DELIGHT, the 1963 World Grand Champion.
While her first breeding did not result in conception, she was later declared ' fin foal” and this chestnut
colt was the result. DELIVERY was one of two yearlings that Buddy started for Mr. Sheely in the fall of 1966. He recalls that they made a genuine effort to sell him and his companion for a paltry sum and couldn t get any takers. He was not a pretty yearling and was in sad need of nutrition. The first time we saw SPECIAL DELIVERY he was a fledgling two-year-old that still needed some groceries. It was around the first of spring in 1967, and
Buddy showed him four times before the Celebration that year and entered the championship contest undefeated, with outstanding victories at Etowah; Boaz, Alabama; Madison, Tennessee; and the Spring Jubilee at Columbia. His performance at the Celebration was excellent, and he emerged as the Reserve Champion in both his class and the Two-Year-Old Championship. Still he did not attract the attention he deserved as the big discussion throughout the
winter months that followed was primarily about the " champion” and others in the class. As a three-year-old, SPECIAL DELIVERY made even more progress on his climb to the top. With Buddy Hugh riding, he was acclaimed the victor at Smiths
Station, Alabama; Searcy, Arkansas; Etowah, Tennessee; the Columbia Spring Jubilee; and Pulaski, Tennessee. It was at this final performance prior to the
( Right) Marking the target date of Friday, September 5, Buddy Hugh and Toby Green make plans for
SPECIAL DELIVERY in the Junior Championship as Mrs. Janie Hugh looks on with pride.
( Left) This fine action photograph by Les Nelson indicates the type of ability that Celebration enthusiasts can expect when SPECIAL DELIVERY enters the ring for owner Hank Sheely of Dallas, Texas.
( Lower Left) Buddy Hugh proudly holds the reins of SPECIAL DELIVERY, his contender for the Junior Championship at the 1969 Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration. He is undefeated in competition this year and is ready for the contest
Buddy was riding him in front of his new stable, then operated privately by Mr. Hugh. He was a pretty colt
with fine bone and the makings of good conformation. With a lot of natural ability and an attentive nature, DELIVERY liked his job.
As a two-year-old, he progressed rapidly and by early summer began to take on some weight He entered the showring for his first contest at the Etowah, Tennessee Civitan Horse Show in May of 1967. In a fine class of young horses SPECIAL DELIVERY emerged victorious and suddenly became a genuine contender. He had attracted a lot of attention but was still not on the lips of everyone as were some other
young horses in the area.
August, 1969
Celebration that the " Buddy Hugh bandwagon” began to roll. People began to swap allegiances when they saw the fantastic show being put on by this remarkable chestnut stallion that night in Pulaski. During the week of the Celebration, large crowds of SPECIAL DELIVERY fans flocked to the Buddy Hugh Stables on the old Wartrace Road in Shelbyville to see him work. By the first of the week, just a few days before the three-year-old class, Mr. Hugh had a fine edge on
his horse. He was ready. We joined a crowd on Monday to see him work and insisted, if that is the word, that we see him exactly as he would be shown... with boots on. We were convinced that SPECIAL DE LIVERY would have no peer at the Celebration in the
( Continued on page SS)
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