G. H. Walker, Member of the Jockey Club, Dies: Was Member of N. Y. Commission and Co-Owner of Log Cabin Stud, Daily Racing Form, 1953-06-27

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G.H. Walker, Member . Of The Jockey Club, Dies Was Member of N.Y. Commission And Co-Owner of Log Cabin Stud NEW YORK, N. Y., June 26.— Private funeral services will be held tomorrow at Kennebunkport, Me., for George Herbert Walker, member of the Jockey Club and internationally known -financier and sportsman, who died at his home here Wednesday at the age of 79. Although he was a former member of the New York State Racing Commission and a leading turfman in the 1920s at part owner with W. Averell Harriman of the Log Cabin Stud, Walker was primarily known in sporting circles for his golfing activities. He was president of the United States Golf Association in 1920 and in that year put the Walker Cup into competition for British and American amateur golfers. Walker was a native of St. Louis, Mo., and was graduated from the Washington University Law School there. In 1900 he founded the banking and investment firm of G. H. Walker and Co., which now has its main office in New York and branches throughout the country. He was president of W. A. Harriman and Co., from 1920 to 1930. In 1925, Gov. Alfred E. Smith appointed him to fill a vacancy on the New York State Racing Commission. He was elected to membership in the Jockey Club in June of the following year. Walker entered the field of racing in 1922 when he and Harriman established the Log Cabin Stud, but went more seriously into the sport early in 1925 when they purchased all the horses in training from the estate of August Belmont shortly after the death of The Jockey Club chairman. Included in the band was the highly regarded Ladkin. No price ever was announced for the sale, but the sum was reported to be in the neighborhood of 00,000. The partnership in Log Cabin Stud was dissolved in 1926, with Harriman continuing under the nom de course of Arden Farms Stables, and Walker retaining the Log Cabin title. Among the horses Walker acquired at that time were Festival, Cross Fire and Blackamoor, all highly regarded in their divisions. The great Chance Play went to Harriman, after racing well for both sportsmen the year before. Walker did not confine his sporting interests to racing and golf, as he also was prominent in tennis, rowing and football. His death Wednesday came after an illness of several months. Survivors include his widow, Mrs. Loulie Wear Walker; two daughters, Nancy, and Mrs. Dorothy W. Bush and four sons, George H., Jr., Dr. John M. Louis, and James W. Walker maintained a summer home at Kennebunkport where he will be interred.


Persistent Link: https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1950s/drf1953062701/drf1953062701_54_1
Local Identifier: drf1953062701_54_1
Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800