Famous Horses and their Famous People
What would any stables be without the horses who are made famous by the work and skills of the people who owned, trained, and cared for them – and the people who built the stables and ran the business-end.
In rescuing this historic stables, we are always finding new people associated with the stables, and more fascinating details about the people we already knew about.
This section of the site tells about both horses and the people in their lives – all worthy of having their stories told. And while this is a work in progress (more information is regularly turned up), we’ll begin with the Grand Barn’s owners:
| Cyrus Clark – Built the original barn structure. Credited with starting the Missouri State Fair.
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Joseph Potts – Key to starting the American Saddlebred Registry. Hired Tom Bass as his trainer.
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| George Lee – with his brother, bought and sold many champions. Said to have sold over 10,000 horses through their stables. | William Lee – trained and showed champion Rex McDonald, among others. |
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Robert G. Stewart – painted the barn white and renamed it “Dincara Stables” Also added current dormers. Partnered with William Cunningham and B.B. Tucker.
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| Arthur Simmons – Award-winning trainer, known also for his Heart of America Saddle Horse Sales at the American Royal in Kansas City. |
Famous Saddlebred Horses
A list of known saddlebred horses stabled at the “Grand Barn on the Boulevard” is available in PDF form. We are still missing owners, stables, and trainers for many of these.
Some pages added include:
Famous Trainers
Tom Bass – One of the greatest Missouri success stories, Bass has been largely ignored outside of horse-training circles. While he was born to a slave girl, he was able to work with many fine horses on that Callaway County plantation, under the tutelage of his grandfather Presley Grey. Moving to Mexico in his 20’s, he was able to get a job training horses at the Grand Barn and by 1890 was recognized worldwide as one of the best horse trainers. He is buried in Mexico, Missouri next to his wife and son.
John T. Hook – starting as a groom in these stables, Hook went on to his own fame as a trainer. He operated his own stables just opposite the Grand Barn on the Boulevard.
Famous Owners
Coming soon… (Please send in your stories.)
