Page 143 - Speedhorse November 2019

The Nelson Home at Canadian Valley
time ago, and I can’t remember his bloodlines. Whatever they were, they nicked.”
AQHA records list a bay named Duke, foaled in 1945, by Colonel Clyde out of Lena (TB) by Walkaway. AA, Duke raced for nine years.
“When it comes to horses, it’s always
been my rule to sell when the price is right. Sometimes – lots of times – it tears my heart out to do it, because I tend to love my horses, especially the ones I raise. But the rule still stands. You can buy anything I’ve got except my wife and my dog.
“Anyway, I sold Duke to Ewell Watson in Arizona while Duke was still young, but while the bay and I were together, we had ourselves some fun. The best day we ever had was around 1948, when I hauled him to Anadarko, Oklahoma. They had a match track there frequented by Kiowa and Comanche.
“When I was unloading Duke I said to anybody who was listening that I was there to match the bay against anything for any amount, I was real cocky about it. An old Indian came up to me and looked hard into my eyes, and then sort of grinned and said, ‘Mmmm...Big Train has arrived. From then on that’s what they called me at Anadarko, Big Train.
“That day I stuck Duke in an eight-horse gate for a 3/8 mile. He was in the seventh hole, took command a few jumps out of the gate and won like a thief in the night. That’s the way it always was with Duke. I did everything I could to get him outrun, but he had other ideas and refused to be beat. It makes you proud to say you owned a horse like that.
“Another horse I admired in the 1940s but never owned was the great Ed Echols by Zantanon. I was there when he ran his last race at the age of nine, and he got a standing ovation for it.
“A little 1950 model came along that I was fortunate enough to own for a while. I was co- owner of the horse with Elmer Moody. He was
Little Hot Shot, AAA, by Hot Shot R out of
a mare called Babe. Little Hot Shot raced for eleven years. He made 196 starts, had 21 wins, 26 seconds and 30 thirds. The best day Little Hot Shot, Elmer and I had together was when we ran second to Moon Deck in a 549-yard race in California.
“A real pretty little thing came along in 1951. She was Little Bay Lady, a charmer by Hank H out of the famous old match mare, Tom’s Lady Gray. I owned Lady for a while, and matched her against some good ones. They knew they had been in a horse race.”
Jack leased Sky Ranch, not far from Oklahoma City, in the early 1950s. The wheat farm came equipped with a 5/8 mile track.
“Needless to say, it was match time every Sunday. By then, Quarter Horse racing was getting a lot more sophisticated, and I was getting downright serious about the whole thing. Discovered Los Alamitos and took a few contenders out there. Elk City Jane was one. Another was Long’s Buster Brown, this buckskin gelding. He was by Scar Joe out
of Dark Victory. There was Beetle Bomb by Nowata Star out of Sure Traveler, and just lots more.
“Ed Burke was Racing Secretary at Los Alamitos then, a real good friend of mine and one of the greatest handicappers that ever lived. But we had a little set-to in 1950, in regard to Apple Sauce.
“Apple Sauce was my little brown filly, foaled in 1948. She was by a real fast horse, Can Do, and out of Pla Mor’s Lady. My trainer was Elmer Moody. Elmer hauled Long’s Buster Brown, Elk City Jane and a few others, including Apple Sauce, to Los Alamitos. Stalls were a big problem, but Elmer got space for all the horses – save my Apple Sauce.
“Ed Burke said nobody had ever heard of Apple Sauce, and that he didn’t want to have
“The finest thing in the world is to get a colt used to you when he’s a baby. Handle him, teach him you’re not going to hurt him. But don’t make a pet out of him, else he’ll be inclined to get lazy. Gentle but firm.”
SPEEDHORSE November 2019 141
LOOKING BACK - AN EXCERPT FROM JULY 1980 ISSUE
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Jack’s father ran a general merchandise store in this building around 1906 in Blossom, Texas.
Jack Nelson and Duke