Sconeite Snippet: Harley Walden

HARLEY Walden left school when he was 15 years of age to go and work at Sledmere stud alongside his father.

His father was described as a man who was a legend in the industry with an uncanny talent for handling young horses.

Now at the age of 79 Harley has spent his life as part of the local thoroughbred industry.

He has seen incredible changes in the industry and while at his age he could be forgiven for thinking there is nothing new under the sun, Harley said he still sees something fresh and interesting about the industry every day.

Harley Walden, surrounded by racing memorabilia collected over a lifetime in the thoroughbred industry

“There is always something new coming on the scene, new trainers and new people all the time,” Dr Walden said.

“It’s great to see how well Peter Snowden has done I remember Peter, his father, his mother and I saw Peter graduate and his job at the old sawmill and an apprentice to Johnny Noonan and then he got the offer to go to Crown Lodge with the Inghams and he just went from one step to the other and now he’s out on his own and has the favourite for this years’ golden slipper, which has a great chance of winning it again,” he said.

“Racing is a great leveler, no matter if you are a jockey, or a trainer, or an owner you can buy a syndicated horse for $5,000 or $10,000 and you might have a Melbourne Cup winner on your hands, it can turn a prince into a pauper or a pauper into a prince in a matter of seconds,” Harley Walden said.

Harley worked at Sledmere for 27 years, then helped set up Stratheden Stud for John Park, before returning to Alabama Stud to work for Jimmy Bowcock and when he finally retired from the studs he turned his hand to writing about the local industry.

“I suppose having been around Scone all my life and seeing the different studs how they’ve built up,” he said

“When I was young there was Sledmere, Tinagroo, Yarraman Park, Alabama and Kia-Ora, they were probably the major studs.

“If you look around now I think in a radius of about 80 kilometres we’ve got about 60 studs.

“They are magnificent developments, Darley, Arrowfield, Emirates Park they are all here to stay and stay in a big way,” he said.

“I remember when service fees were 500 guineas, which is about $1,000 and I was reading this morning where Schnitzel looks like he’ll top the $100,000 this year on one service fee and the top horse in America at the moment American Pharoah won the triple crown he’s going to stand for $225,000 and he’ll cover somewhere in the vicinity of 125 to 150 mares in one season, so it is a big turn over,” said Harley.

Harley has written three books on the local thoroughbred industry and is a veritable expert.

“I was always keen on writing, reading old books and things like that, so the paper asked if I’d like to do a weekly column with them in 1973 and I always enjoyed doing that,” he said.

“There are people who stop me down the street and say they are not into horses, but they enjoy reading what I write, because I try to write so that people outside the industry can understand more about what is going on,” he said.

“It’s interesting to keep writing and reading about what is happening overseas in the thoroughbred industry, it keeps the mind active and I like doing it.

“Throughout my life I was with the horses, always with the horses,” Harley Walden said.

Now in his 80^th year, scone.com.au is pleased to announce Harley will be contributing a regular column on the thoroughbred industry.

We are fortunate to have someone with Harley’s experience and enthusiasm share his knowledge and perspectives.