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Walla Walla

WALLA WALLA MATCH RACES

What would you say to a match race between Lord Module and Popular Alm, on a nice roomy track like Addington, with Delightful Lady, Bonnie's Chance and Armalight thrown in for good measure? Obviously such an event would be virtually impossible, to frame or to imagine, but that's just what happened exactly 50 years ago.

It was early in 1934 when the NZ Metropolitan Trotting Club completed arrangements for the glamour Australian pacer Walla Walla to compete in a series of match races throughout NZ, against the best pacers New Zealand could assemble. Considered worthy of taking on such an illustrious foe were dual NZ Cup winner Harold Logan, in the twilight of his magnificent career as an eleven-year-old, most recent NZ Cup winner Red Shadow, ten-year-old Roi l'Or and Jewel Pointer, the latter representing the North Island.

Trotting in NZ has seen many changes since the turn of the century and the days of Ribbonwood and Fritz. Growth was the key word, checked momentarily by events of World War I, trotting had made splendid progress in NZ. Addington Raceway, undoubtedly the mecca of the sport in this part of the world, had seen many personalities, horses and men. Names such as Monte Carlo, Wildwood Junior, Author Dillon, Trix Pointer, Reta Peter, Great Bingen and Wrackler, the Bryces, Holmes, and numerous others had well and truly carved their niche. The period was also significant for the importation of stallions who reshaped the industry - the likes of Nelson Bingen, Harold Dillon, Logan Pointer, Rey de Oro, Wrack and Jack Potts. While economies had plunged into the depths of depression, trotting in the 1930s was little short of spectacular, spurred on by great horses and packed grandstands.

One of those horses was Harold Logan, a gelded son of Logan Pointer and a non-standardbred mare in Ivy Cole, who was by King Cole (by Ribbonwood) from Wisconsin, she being out of a poorly performed thoroughbred mare. Harold Logan rose from total obscurity to become a household name in NZ, the idol of thousands. But it wasn't so much his perfect manners, devastating turn of speed nor undeniable will to win that saw him rise to such heights of popularity. It was his character. Harold Logan was virtually human, so intelligent he was known to train himself and run his own races. One famous instance was after one of his many wins at Addington, his driver commenting Harold Logan was into full stride before he realised the starter had let the field go.

Nobody had heard of Harold Logan when he began his first serious campaign as a seven-year-old, having just been purchased by Mr E Hinds for £100 and joined the stable of R J (Dick) Hunphreys. However, after a North Island campaign in the winter of 1930, where he was unbeaten in four starts at Wanganui, Hawera and Taranaki in the space of a fortnight, he was already among the stars. After winning at Addington, Harold Logan travelled to Auckland where he scored a double, his final start of the season resulting in a five length win in the featured Adams Memorial Cup.

He won his first three starts as an eight-year-old later finishing second in the Auckland Cup from 36 yards to Carmel (front) and winning the NZ Trotting Gold Cup at Wellington by four lengths. He was placed in his final three starts at Addington that season, including a third from 84 yards over two miles. Nobody could believe their eyes when his time of 4:13.4 was posted, the previous best being Peter Bingen's 4:18.8. He was timed from post to post in better than 4:11, figures unheard of and unequalled until Highland Fling appeared on the scene some 15 years later.

As a nine-year-old Harold Logan won his first NZ Cup, coming off a 48 yard handicap to easily beat Kingcraft (front), Free Advice (12) and Wrackler (36). The stake of 1500 sovereigns was half what the Cup had been run for in the mid 1920s. He also won the Free-For-All on the final day pointlessly. Harold Logan returned the following season to win the National Handicap from 60 yards, set new figures for a mile and a quarter in finishing third at Addington in 2:38.4, win the NZ Cup Trial at Wellington, and win his second NZ Cup from 60 yards, beating Glenrossie (12), Roi l'Or (24) and Red Shadow (12) by two lengths in 4:16.4, a race record.

Now trained by his owner at New Brighton, Harold Logan returned at the advanced age of 11 to win at Addington in August, beating Mountain Dell (front), and Red Shadow (36) from 60 yards over a mile and a quarter in 2:38 2/5. However, he was overshadowed by Red Shadow at the Cup meeting, finishing fifth from 72 yards in the Cup and being soundly beaten by that horse in the Free-For-All after uncharacteristically beaking in the run home. It seemed youth was about to be served, but Harold Logan still had other ideas.

Red Shadow was by no means a slouch himself, in fact trainer James "Scotty" Bryce, who prepared no less than five individual NZ Cup winners, considered him the best. The chestnut was a six-year-old when he beat Harold Logan in the Free-For-All and had already won 22 races, including nine and the Great Northern Derby as a three-year-old. Red Shadow's sire Travis Axworthy, a chestnut himself imported from America as a two-year-old in 1924, was a fine upstanding individual and a pacer of top class, actually beating Harold Logan on more than one occasion a few years earlier. Red Shadow was one of those great "lucky to be alive" stories.

Bryce had arrived from Scotland in 1913, presuming his two mares Our Aggie and Jenny Lind would be waiting for him. He had shipped them off two weeks before departing himself. However, their ship had soon gone aground, forcing it back to port, and the mares had to be transshipped to another vessel, the Nairnshire. Two months after Bryce had stepped on to the Wellington wharf, the Nairnshire arrived. It had been a particularly rough and hazardous journey and Bryce's mares were strapped to the deck, the mate having suggested they be thrown overboard. Bryce had already shifted to Christchurch and was soon making "Oakhampton Lodge" at Hornby the most modern training establishment seen up to that time. Only months after arriving, Our Aggie was winning races for Bryce and later she produced Red Shadow.

Only three years after his arrival in the Dominion, Bryce was the leading trainer, a position he retained for seven consequtive years, then again in the 1923-24 season. He was also leading reinsman on five occasions. Apart from his NZ Cup successes with Cathedral Chimes (1916), Great Hope (1923), Ahuriri (1925,1926), Kohara (1927) and Red Shadow, Bryce won six Auckland Cups, three Sapling Stakes, three NZ Derbies, four Great Northern Derbies, four Champion Stakes, four Dominion Handicaps and a Rowe Cup, a record unapproached to this day. Other top class performers shaped by him were Admiral Wood, Man o'War, Shadow Maid, Taurekareka (the first horse to win the Sapling Stakes, NZ and Great Northern Derby), Whispering Willie, Moneyspider, Matchlight, Alto Chimes, Taraire and Whist.

Bryce was meticulous in detail, his horses were always fit and healthy, inside and outside, and he was one of the first horsemen to introduce swimming as a regular part of training. Bryce had arrived in NZ with his wife and five children. Two of his sons, Andrew and James junior, were also noted horsemen for many years while his daughter Rona was an accomplished horsewoman at shows and gymkhanas and was associated with the training of several galloping winners.

The 1930s saw a succession of champion performers and the 1933 NZ Cup meeting was no exception. In the event before the Cup, top four-year-old Indianapolis had come from a 36 yard back mark to win the mile and a quarter Empire Handicap by four lengths, while later in the day Huon Voyage won the Dominion Handicap from 60 yards. The Cup itself went pretty much as expected, with Mrs M Harrall's Red Shadow and Royal Silk finishing comfortably clear of the rest. This is the only occasion an owner has quinellaed the Cup. Red Shadow also won the final event of the day over a mile and a quarter. The meeting was also significant for the success of the six-year-old are Worthy Queen, who won twice on the second day and again on the third, beating top trotters Todd Lonzia and Huon Voyage. The NZ Derby was won by the unbeaten Man o'War youngster in War Buoy. The M B "Dil" Edwards trained gelding was out by six and twelve lengths over subsequent NZ Cup winner Morello and Gay Junior, the only other pacers that bothered entering the event. War Buoy who went on to win his first ten races, set a new race record for the mile and a half of 3:16.2.

So devastating had Red Shadow been at the meeting, winning all four principle races, that he was installed favourite over Walla Walla and Harold Logan for the first round of match races on March 31. However, everyone knew Red Shadow would be produced in his usual immaculate condition, so most of the attention was focused on the "veterans", Walla Walla and Harold Logan, who were both virtually twice Red Shadow's age. Roi l'Or and Free Holmes had beaten Harold Logan on his merits in their younger days, but his form was indifferent now and he was thought to be past his best. Twelve-year-old Jewel Pointer had been one of the north's best performers for many years, but with advancing years was only given a runner's chance.

Walla Walla was really something of a mystery, in fact most had not even heard of him, paying little attention to events across the Tasman. However, when some of his performances around the tiny Harold Park circuit were related, suddenly he took on awesome stature. Walla Walla's career had been along parallel lines to Harold Logan. He made his first appearances as a five-year-old in Sydney in 1928, winning the Gunning Show Cup and the Tooth's K B Lager Handicap. Hopples or no hopples, it made no difference to Walla Walla, and in July of 1928 he won his first registered start in Melbourne, unhoppled. It was the start of a record breaking career, culminating in his 2:02.4 mile at Harold Park in May of 1933, a time which was easily the fastest outside America. The NZ record for a mile was Acron's ten-year-old mark of 2:03.6 at Addington, while Harold Logan's best mile time was a 2:04.4 effort at Forbury Park, a track considered seconds faster than Harold Park.

Walla Walla was bred, owned and trained throughout his career by Les Martin, a grazier and storekeeper of Dalton, New South Wales. Martin had been a great admirer of an outstanding pacer of the 1910s in Globe Derby, and when that horse was embarking on a stud career, purchased two mares in Princess Winona and Purple Ribbon to breed to him. Princess Winona, an unraced trotting mare by imported parents in Dixie Alto and Winona, duly produced a particularly handsome colt. However, as a two-year-old the colt was "all head and legs" and Martin lost interest in him. He was untouched until a late three-year-old and for a while fiercely resisted being handled. However, Walla Walla was soon proving himself a class above anything else in Australia and often so long were his handicaps, he was to become immortalised by the saying "further back than Walla Walla." Among his numerous successes were wins over 12 furlongs at Goulburn from 168 yards and at Harold Park from 180 yards, while his longest handicap was 288 yards in the 1929 Goulburn Cup when he finished third.

Thus when Walla Walla stepped into the Addington birdcage to do battle with New Zealand's best, the scene was unprecedented, or at least for 30 years when Fritz and Ribbonwood had set the trotting world alight. It is impossible to recapture the excitement of the day in words now, so for a while we will step back into history, remembering we are 50 years in the past, and let the noted scribe of those years, "Ribbonwood" (or Karl Scott as he was better known) recall the events.

(Published April 5, 1934, NZ Referee).
"From a very early hour the trams and taxis did a roaring trade. People were seen walking to the course from 9:30am and by 11:30 traffic control at the course entrances was a most difficult task. They continued to arrive in thousands until the appointed hour of the Invitation Match, and by this time grandstand accommodation was at a premium. Inside and outside the course every possible vantage point was taken. The Showgrounds fence, and the back fence of the course, cattle trucks and carriages in the railway yard, the workshops roof, and the roofs of private houses adjacent to the course were loaded with humanity. From the crowd covering the lawns came a steady drone that could be likened to the roar of an Eastern market place.

"But the crowd round the totalisator dispersed much earlier than usual, and five minutes before closing time the totalisator was being patronised by only a few stragglers who were probably imbued with purely gambling instincts, and who were not particularly desirous of obtaining the best possible view of the race. It is safe to say that many thousands did not make any investment on the race. They went solely to see the champions in action, and monetary interests became a secondary consideration with many of the 22,000 present.

"The CJC as well as retailers, hotel keepers and bording house keepers have benefitted by the enterprise of the Metropolitan Trotting Club in arranging the match races. One incident will give some idea of the tremendous interest it has engended. Of nine men staying at one hotel, six admitted that it was the first trotting meeting they had attended. That is a large percentage and does not hold good in all cases. But one can safely assume that the increase of £11,985 in the totalisator investments on the first day was represented by the drawing influence of the Invitation Match.

Walla Walla was the first horse to enter the birdcage and when he was driven round by his owner, unstinted applause came from the dense crowd around the birdcage. It had an unsettling effect on Walla Walla, who got on his toes immediately and showed nervousness during the preliminary that his owner stated was due to the surroundings and a multitude his champion had never seen before. When Harold Logan appeared, prancing along to the plaudits that only a public idol receives, the hero of 'ten thousand' fights was given the warmest reception of all the contestants. He has gained a place in the estimation of the sporting public that will never be surpassed, even when his memory is dimmed with time. Red Shadow, the best conditioned horse of the field, made a marvellous impression in his 'Sunday waistcoat' as he was enthusiastically received. Roi l'Or, who, perhaps, did not look as though he had all his medals on, also came in for a tremendous round of applause, and little Jewel Pointer was received as a battle-scarred old veteran with a runner's chance.

"Walla Walla and Roi l'Or were both restive at the start, and they held up the despatch for nearly two minutes. Harold Logan stood like a statue, and Red Shadow and Jewel Pointer gave little trouble. Walla Walla continued to rear up and back out, but eventually they were all caught nearly in line. Walla Walla began ver fast and was soon showing out from Harold Logan and Red Shadow, while Roi l'Or and Jewel Pointer were slow to muster their speed. Walla Walla drew out by two lengths clear of Harold Logan at the end of a quarter, and Red Shadow was about the same distance back, and then Jewel Pointer and Roi l'Or at close intervals. Jewel Pointer moved up to be almost on terms with Red Shadow three furlongs from home, but from this stage the race was a duel between Walla Walla and Harold Logan. Walla Walla reached the straight with Harold Logan challenging on the outside of him.

"The crowd had cheered wildly from the outset, but when Harold Logan drew up to Walla Walla a furlong from the post, the mingled advice and exhortations were deafening. 'Harold Logan wins' came from thousands of throats and halfway down the straight the New Zealander certainly appeared to have the measure of the
Australian. About 50 yards from the post they drew level again, but Walla Walla had a little in reserve, and gradually drew out from Harold Logan, and passed the post a neck in front. Red Shadow, flat out, was three lengths away, Jewel Pointer four lengths farther back, and Roi l'Or about two lengths away.

"The crowd literally went mad with delight. They would have liked to see our champion beat Walla Walla, but the fact that the Australian came again when apparently beaten, and won the most hair raising duel ever witnessed at Addington, left them hoarse but satisfied. It took the police all their time to prevent a section of the crowd from mobbing the winner when he was returning to the birdcage, but more was to follow. On their way back to the sheds, Walla Walla and Mr Martin were effectively mobbed. Police protection had to be availed of, and, before the crowd dispersed, several volunteers had to be called upon to protect the police, or assist them. 'My greatest hope has been realised,' stated Mr Martin. 'The demonstration fairly staggered me.' 'The best horse won,' said Mr E F C Hinds, owner of Harold Logan. 'I am quite satisfied.'"

The best horse had won and in world record time for a standing start mile of 2:04.2.

The subsequent invitation races at Addington, Alexandra Park, Forbury Park, Oamaru and Wellington were understandably anti-climatic, with Walla Walla failing to reproduce his best.

The second day of Addington's Easter meeting saw Walla Walla, Harold Logan, Red Shadow, Jewel Pointer and Ces Donald's Lindbergh return for a clash over a mile and a half. Harold Logan won easily after Walla Walla had put his foot through Jewel Pointer's cart with about a mile to run. Walla Walla had begun slowly and was trying to get out of a pocket on the rails when the incident occurred. A youthful Maurice Holmes who drove Harold Logan throughout the series, received some criticism for "walking" the field in the early stages. With Harold Logan reeling of his last half mile in close to 59 seconds, he gave nobody a show, beating Red Shadow by a length with Lindbergh and Walla Walla six lengths away. Harold Logan recorded 3:16.4 for the journey, more than two seconds slower than Worthy Queen took in the main trot later in the day, recording 3:14.2 from 60 yards. Worthy Queen's time was to stand as a record for almost 20 years, Dictation reducing it in the early 1950s.

A few days later Walla Walla, along with stablemate Auburn Lad and Worthy Queen, was back at Addington for a special attack on a 2:00 mile. Auburn Lad, also by Globe Derby, was owned, trained and driven by Bill McKay, who had accompanied Martin to NZ to drive Walla Walla. Auburn Lad had won well on the second day of the Easter meeting, beating Roi l'Or and Kingcraft over two miles. Several thousand enthusiasts were on hand to witnessthe time trials, but any chance of Australasia's first 2:00 mile were extinguished when one of those infamous Canterbury easterlies blew up. Walla Walla was the first to trial and sensationally raced up the Addington straight, into the wind, to pass the first quarter in 28 seconds, carrying on to the half in 58.4. Not surprisingly, he tired noticeably over the final quarter, taking over 34 seconds to complete the mile in 2:03.8. More sensibly handled by McKay, Auburn Lad went through the sections in 29.6, 60.8, amd 1:30.6 and stopping the clock at 2:02.4, equalling Walla Walla's Australasian mile record.

However the star of the show was Jack Shaw's sleek little trotting mare Worthy Queen. Trotting in the style she had become so admired for, Worthy Queen passed each quarter in close to even time, and although tiring as she completed the journey, recorded 2:03.6, a mark which stood as the fastest in NZ for no less than 30 years. Worthy Queen failed to win a race afterwards, being handicapped out of most events and more often than not competing against pacers, where she was placed three times, including a third to Indianapolis at Wellington later in the season. She had her last start in the 1934 Dominion Handicap over a mile and a half, finishing fourth after sharing the back mark of 36 yards with the winner Trampfast, Huon Voyage, Olive Nelson and Wrackler, the latter three being past winners of the event.

The third and fourth rounds of the invitation races were held at Alexandra Park. Harold Logan was an easy winner of the first, leading throughout to beat Auburn Lad and Red Shadow, but in the second he drifted off the rails at a vital stage and allowed Impromptu and Red Shadow through to beat him narrowly. Walla Walla had not travelled north but he and Harold Logan clashed at Forbury Park where the track was so bad they were forced to race in the centre of the course. Walla Walla set a strong pace in the early stages but had no answer when challenged by Harold Logan in the straight. The concluding invitation events at Oamaru and Wellington also fell easy prey to Harold Logan, with Walla Walla struggling. However it was later revealed that the stallion had been suffering from a severe cold.

Walla Walla returned to Australia to enjoy a long and successful stud career at the property of his owner, dying in 1952 at the age of 30. He sired numerous top class performers, including Radiant Walla, Wirra Walla (grandsire of Apmat), Bruce Walla and the dam of Ribands, but unfortunately nothing anywhere near his own class.



Credit: Frank Marrion writing in NZ Trotting Calendar 8Feb84

ATTENDANCE

The estimates of the largest crowd ever to attend the Addington course range between 27,000 and 32,000 - the latter figure is unofficial; it is believed to have occurred at the 1934 Metropolitan Easter Meeting when the Australian champion Walla Walla competed in Invitation Matches against the top New Zealand pacers Harold Logan, Red Shadow, Jewel Pointer, Roi l'Or and Lindberg.

Credit: 'Ribbonwood' writing in NZ Trotting Calendar 23/10/63