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GOLD QUEEN - Mystery Mare

Roi L'or and Harold Logan the 'Springfield Sensations' of the 1930s were two champions of their era. At one stage both held the world's two-mile record one on grass and the other on 'all weather.' They were two of the best known horses in New Zealand of either code.

Their mothers had grazed together in the paddocks of the Springfield Hotel before a change of scenery by the publican. That meant both were later sold to Waimate Drover/stock dealer/farmer, Percy Brown, for $400 along with one of the mare's foal, then 18 months old. That foal was virtually given to Brown to fellow drover, Fred Legge, and eventually became the superstar pacer Harold Logan, though not for Legge. Brown kept the other mare's foal, named Roi L'or. He raced (Mostly) from Brown's stable for 10 seasons and won over $20,000. You could buy a few farms with that sort of money in the Great Depression. The mare also left a smart trotter Louis Bingen.

It is a fairytale story but with a mystery beginning. One of the mares, Ivy Cole, was a complete dunce, and Gold Queen a moderate performer in her racing days. Both were getting on in years and both had public pedigrees as short as a baby's arm. Roi L'or's granddam was from a non-Standardbred family nobody admitted to knowing much about. She only got into the Stud Book by trotting standard time, not on pedigree.

Harold Logan's granddam, a three quarter thoroughbred, was by a colt who happened to be handy at the time and never sired another Standardbred. The mare was a road trotter with ability but failed on the track. The one thing these two had in common was being by King Cole(by Ribbonwood and a one time mile record holder for Australasia) and out of mares with close up thoroughbred blood. So Mr Coffey from the Springfield Hotel might have known more than history gives him credit for.
That such underperforming mares sharing the same hotel paddock while producing two horses of such ability is an amazing coincidence.

Just as amazing was how the legacy of the two mares disappeared as quickly as it came. Gold Queen never let a filly though Ken Chapman had some success with a horse called Toronto Boy, who was a three quarter brother in blood to Roi L'or. Harold Logan stands alone, the greatest freak breeding story in our history. Nothing came before. Nothing came after. In between came a thunder-bolt.



Credit: David McCarthy writing in Harnessed June 2016

ROI L'OR

The death has occurred of the great little pacer Roi l'Or at the ripe old age of 24. Equally at home on dirt or grass tracks, Roi l'Or built up an imposing record over all distances to reach championship class. Although overshadowed by Harold Logan during his career, he had many victories in important events, including the Auckland Cup of 1934 in the record time of 4.15 2/5, a record for the race that still stands. He also won the Free-For-All at Addington in 1932 (which is now called the NZ Pacing Sprint Championship) pacing the mile and a quarter in 2.38 1/5.

Other important events won by Roi l'Or were the Ashburton Trotting Cup in 1928, the August Handicap in 1929, and the Dunedin Cup in 1930.

Roi l'Or, who was by Rey de Oro-Gold Queen, by King Cole-Dorothy, by Viking, was bred by Mr P Brown, Waimate. He was the first foal of Gold Queen, being foaled in 1923. Gold Queen also left Louis Bingen to Nelson Bingen.

Credit: NZ Trotting Calendar 3Dec47

PERCY BROWN

An unpretentious death notice in Christchurch newspapers last week would not have raised much comment among the general public. But to trotting enthusiasts the death of Percy Brown was of some significance. Percy Brown was responsible for the breeding of two great champions in the mid-thirties, Harold Logan and Roi l'Or.

According to trotting enthusiast and breeder Kevin Brown, whose grandfather was a cousin of the deceased, Percy at one stage had two mares Ivy Cole and Gold Queen. Ivy Cole was in foal to Logan Pointer and Queen Cole had a foal at foot by Rey de Oro, both very successful sires imported by Free Holmes.

Percy swapped Ivy Cole for a hay rake and the resultant foal turned out to be Harold Logan, a household name in his day. Percy retained Gold Queen and her foal and Roi l'Or later became Harold Logan's arch rival. They staged one memorable contest during the 1932 NZ Cup carnival. Harold Logan, after winning his second NZ Cup effortlessly off 60 yards, went out odds on favourite to win the Free-For-All. However, Roy l'Or, third in the Cup, had other ideas and downed Harold Logan by a neck in a race record time which stood for ten years.

Roi l'Or won 19 races for Percy Brown, including the 1934 Auckland Cup in world record time when driven by Free Holmes in the twilight of his career. It is interesting to note that both the mares were by King Cole, a horse by the freak Ribbonwood, who at one stage held the NZ mile record.

While Percy Brown was in his 102nd year, longevity is not uncommon in the Brown family, well known Canterbury farmers. Kevin's grandfather himself lived to be 93. At one stage when his brothers and sisters - seven in all - were alive their combined ages totalled 616.

Credit: Frank Marrion writing in NZ Trotting Calendar 6May80