LEE ROBY

Lee Roby, husband of Mary Lucille Strain, daughter of Walter Andrew Strain, son of Priscilla Mankins, daughter of Peter Mankins II, son of Peter Mankins I, son of John Mankins.

A gallant trio, which wouldn't give up in the face of adversity, today brought one of horsedom's most treasured prizes back to Tulsa.

It was the world's championship five-gaited award, won at the Kentucky State Fair, Saturday night by Daydream of Greenhill Stables.

This blue ribbon is to the riding-horse world what the Kentucky Derby is to racing.

The winning trio consists of Mr. J. R. Sharp, owner of Greenhill; Lee Roby, Greenhill trainer, and of course, Daydream, the 8-year-old mare, acquired by the stable two years ago.

The win came at the conclusion of the show, and the Louisville Courier-Journal reported the crowd of 14,000 in the indoor arena stood and gave the Tulsa horse the greatest ovation in the history of the show.

To win, Daydream defeated Plainview's Julia, owned by R. C. Tway, Louisville, which had won the event two years in succession.

Eight horses qualified for the finals by winning various classes leading up to the event.

After initial workouts it was evident the competition was between Daydream and Plainview's Julia. The judge ordered the other six into the center of the area, and the Tulsa and Louisville entries engaged in an exciting duel, which brought cheers first for one and then the other.

"Daydream didn't make a single mistake. She was perfect. She had to be to win," Roby said today.

For Roby, it was his third win in the big even but his first since 1936. Then and in 1935 he won with Oak Hill Chief, owned by Miss Jean Davis, Portsmouth, VA.

Roby said it was two years ago that the stable acquired Daydream, then a six-year-old with an unimpressive record, from Ross Stanton, Nashville, Tenn.

"I saw her work out at Louisville,, and I thought she had something, but it took two years for her to reach her peak," the trainer said.

It was in October 1960 that Roby startled horse fanciers by riding Daydream at the American Royal Horse Show at Kansas City, Mo. Greenhill's great horse then was Afire, which had an impressive string of victories.

In a last hour decision, Roby chose Daydream and she came "out of nowhere" to win the Royal's five-gaited competition. Her first major victory had been a short time before at the Texas State Fair at Dallas. In June 1961 she won the mare five-gaited stake at the Pin Oak Horse Show at Houston, and the Tulsa Charity Horse Show's five-gaited championship stake.

Victory was sweet for both Roby and Mrs. Sharp, for each has surmounted physical obstacles to stay in the horse business.

In November 1930, eight months after her husband's unexpected death, Mrs. Sharp was critically injured in a Chicago traffic accident. She spent months recovering from a fractured left leg and hip.

Roby previously had made a comeback after being stricken in 1950 by a serious coronary attack. He rested a year and now is at his peak in the strenuous training business.

The other Greenhill horses did well at Louisville, and Annaclair, a young mare, won the junior three-gaited stake.

In addition to a $5,000 cash aware, Daydream won a silver punch bowl service, which Greenhill will keeping during the coming 12 months.