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“Walt worked up all the materials and the nomination blanks and Gene and me would fill up the back of my pickup with cases of whiskey and they’d send me to visit just about every breeder in the country, from California to New York.”-Ray Reed
© Speedhorse Archives
In the meantime, Wiggins had placed billboards on every major or minor highway within hundreds of miles, each depicting horses and jockeys racing in the shade of snow-
covered pine trees, with the slogan, “Racing
in the COOL, COOL pines.” Very few cars
and zero ranch trucks had air conditioning
in those days and often those billboards were
the closest thing to a breath of fresh air you might have all day. Local radio stations and hometown newspapers carried advertisements and human-interest stories about Ruidoso Downs and the TV celebrities and movie stars who often visited as Gene Hensley’s guests. The contacts Walt Wiggins had in the network of national magazines proved to be a priceless asset. He wrote a wide variety of articles praising the charming mountain getaway and promoting
it as the “Playground of the Southwest.” Momentum was building. Weekend crowds at Ruidoso Downs increased steadily.
But the best news trickled in through the
Post Office box. Those hundreds of All American Futurity nomination blanks were arriving steadily, accompanied by the initial small payments into
the purse fund. Of course, no one knew what percentage of those initial nominees would be sustained all the way through the final payment
to enter the time trials, but initial results were encouraging. Then as the months passed, very few of the initial nominees were dropping out. Again, momentum was building. Interest was also building for a Quarter Horse yearling auction to be held in conjunction with the big race at a future date.
By the spring of 1959, Hensley and Wiggins knew they had not only reached their goal of a life-changing purse; they had surpassed it. By
the time all fees had been paid, the purse for the first All American Futurity was an incredible $129,000. In its first running, the upstart race for Quarter Horses surpassed the purse of America’s most celebrated Thoroughbred race, the Kentucky Derby—which had been run in a major city for 84 years. And once Hugh Huntley’s filly Galobar collected her epic win in 1959, enthusiasm for the All American Futurity snowballed. Nominations soared, the purse monies continued to grow and so did the values of racing-bred Quarter Horses. That factor was the perfect stimulus for another business opportunity—a yearling sale fueled
by excitement for the big race. Again, Wiggins, who was promoted to vice president of the
track, was instrumental in the concept and the implementation of one of the cornerstones of today’s Quarter Horse industry. The subsequent growth of the race and the sale over the past six decades makes it easy to take for granted. But we must not forget the “founding fathers” who pushed the boulder up the mountain in the first place.
By the time the 1960s were drawing to a close, Hensley had problems with the Internal Revenue Service and was forced to sell Ruidoso Downs to the Fortuna Corporation, a powerful subsidiary of the Alessio family. With Hensley gone, Wiggins left, too. But having developed such passion for the people and the stories of the Quarter Horse racing industry, he wanted to continue to be involved in a major way. So, in 1969 he founded Quarter Racing World, which was the original name of Speedhorse magazine. In a few years, he moved the headquarters from Roswell to Purcell, Oklahoma, to be closer
to the many breeding farms which were his main advertising clients. Eventually he sold the magazine to Connie Golden, who
operated it until it was purchased
by John Bachelor, the current
owner. For more than half
a century the magazine
has been promoting the
breeding and racing of
the “world’s fastest
athletes”—the
American
Quarter Horse breed.
Walt Wiggins, the Renaissance Man was,
by definition, many-faceted. Over the years he had gained a broad knowledge of fine arts, due
in part to his close friendship with artist Peter Hurd and his wife, Henriette Wyeth, a member of America’s most famous and respected family
of artists and a fine painter herself. Walt Wiggins, along with his wife Roynel, turned to the business of buying, selling, and brokering fine art pieces. Among his most notable clients were R.D. and Joan Dale Hubbard, whose art collection is world famous. Kim Wiggins, Walt’s youngest son, is a nationally known painter and operates a gallery in Roswell. His oldest son, Walt Wiggins, Jr., is an executive with the All American Yearling Sale, an institution which was co-founded and promoted by his father in 1962. Walt Wiggins, Sr. passed away in 1992, his brilliant mind and his sense of humor sharp to the very end.
When the beautiful New Mexico Magazine celebrated its 100th Anniversary issue this past July, the editors selected a fascinating group of articles and photos, hoping to portray the best and most historic materials from their archives. It is not surprising they chose an article from
60 years ago written and photographed by
Walt Wiggins, an article about the fledgling
All American Futurity and the enchanting village of Ruidoso. In a beautiful turn of events, during that same month of July, Walt Wiggins was inducted posthumously into the Ruidoso Downs Racehorse Hall of Fame. Neither the magazine editors nor the organizers of the induction ceremonies were aware that they would be honoring Wiggins simultaneously. While some might say that his induction was long overdue, I believe it’s happening as it did was altogether appropriate. Walt was the kind of man who would have appreciated the irony.
In its first running, the upstart race for Quarter Horses surpassed the purse of America’s most celebrated Thoroughbred race, the Kentucky Derby—which had been run in a major city for 84 years.
Walt’s sons Walt Jr. and Kim
SPEEDHORSE November 2022 83
© Susan Bachelor, Speedhorse