Rash's Surname Index
Notes for Averell Penn SMITH
Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA) - January 25, 1992
Deceased Name: AVERELL WALKER, RACEHORSE BREEDER
Averell Penn Smith Walker, 68, operator of Rolling Plains Stable in Unionville and breeder of outstanding racehorses, died Wednesday at an area hospital after a long illness.
Mrs. Walker, who was named Pennsylvania's Outstanding Owner-Breeder in October by the national Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, had a reputation as a sharp judge of horses and a hard and creative bargainer.
"She was very successful," said Mark McDermott, executive secretary of the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association. "We have two races - futurities - here for horses raised in Pennsylvania, and she has won both of those."
The horses were Pay-the-Toll and Drop-a-Gem, and both won in the early 1980s, he said.
The best thoroughbred to come from Mrs. Walker's 200-acre farm was a filly, Golden Horde, which won six or more races, one of which was the Monmouth Oaks in 1985, said her son, Cuyler Harriman Walker. The record set by Golden Horde in that race is still on the books, although it was tied in 1987.
She was also part of the syndicate that owned Summer Squall, winner of the Preakness and the Pennsylvania Derby in 1990.
Her success was achieved despite a severe handicap. Mrs. Walker, who was an accomplished horsewoman, broke her back in a fall when her horse stumbled in a steeplechase in 1961 - a race she had won the year before. Since then, she had been a paraplegic. But that never stopped her.
"She came out on a wheelchair or a stretcher and pushed up to the side of the paddock so she could watch her horses being saddled," said Debbie Arnone, whose husband trained many of Mrs. Walker's horses at Philadelphia Park. ''She didn't baby herself and she never discussed her own problems."
When the horses headed for the starting gate, Mrs. Walker, who got around in her own specially equipped van accompanied by a nurse, took an elevator to an upstairs restaurant to watch the race from a table overlooking the finish line.
"She was quite an independent woman," said McDermott. "She was everywhere there was anything going on with horses."
She even followed local foxhunts in her van, her son said.
In the summer, she was in Saratoga, N.Y., where she watched races and took part in the annual yearling auction. In the winter she attended races and oversaw the training of her horses in Florida.
Mrs. Walker, who was a direct descendent of William Penn and the niece of Averell Harriman, the former governor of New York, was raised in Unionville. She attended the Foxcroft School and Sarah Lawrence College.
"She loved to deal," said her son. "She was not someone who would take advantage of someone. She preferred a tough opponent she could negiotate with hard, so she could feel like she won something."
She was also not afraid to gamble on a deal.
For example: When one of her yearlings was injured and could not be included in an auction, she tried to sell a half share in the filly privately. The prospective buyer had an expert take a look it, and the expert rejected the horse. With the deal - worth $50,000 - about to fall through, Mrs. Walker gambled. She said she would return the purchase money if the horse never won a race.
The filly made winners of them all.
"She won two races and went on to be a successful brood mare, with five winners out of five foals," Cuyler Walker said.
Another time, Mrs. Walker had a half share in a foal that was yet to be born. The mare delivered two foals, but only one lived. Mrs. Walker was said to have called the other investor and given a good-news, bad-news account: The mare had twins, but your foal died.
Her son confirmed the story. But he noted she probably did it to lighten a bad moment and express the disappointment for both investors. Ordinarily, he said, twins are weaker than single-born foals. The survivor could not be expected to amount to much. Both investors were losers.
Mrs. Walker was on the board of Hahnemann University Hospital for several years, and served on the Pennsylvania Board of Vocational Rehabilitation. She was also a supporter of the Special Olympics.
Besides her son, she is survived by her husband, Joseph Walker.
A family service was held yesterday. A memorial service will be held in the spring.
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