Big Noon and Menhammar
Margareta explains:
“The stallion Big Noon was purchased in 1938 as a two-year-old and remained under the ownership of my father, shipping magnate Olof Wallenius, for the rest of the horse’s life. Big Noon went on to become the most famous and beloved trotting horse of the 1940s, competing in the classic racing colours of Stall Segerhuva both in Sweden and abroad as World War II raged. Big Noon’s characteristic silhouette can still be found to this day on both Menhammar Stuteri’s logo and a number of stables at Solvalla, the largest trotting racetrack in the Nordic countries.
In 2009, Big Noon was the third horse to be inducted into the Hall of Fame at the Nordic Trotting Museum in Årjäng, the jury’s justification stating: “He was the emperor of trotting who, with tremendous charisma, an unmistakable gait and burning will to win during his trail of conquest beyond the country’s borders, set the future course of Swedish trotting. He was the lodestar that brought Swedish trotting a hitherto unthinkable level of attention and the first Swedish-born horse to break the dream barrier of 1.20 and, by the time he retired from competition, he had broken Swedish records in all age categories.”
What an honour and coincidence that Big Noon received such a fine accolade in the very year that Wallenius Lines celebrated its 75th anniversary!
From the late 1940s until Big Noon’s death in 1964, at the ripe old age of 28, I myself had the privilege of getting to know that wonderful horse while he was standing stud at Menhammar.”
Margareta Wallenius-Kleberg
Video produced by Kanal75.
For our French-speaking visitors:
La photo du cheval au trot Big Noon est la plus reproduite l’image de trot en Suède. “Le cheval parfait illustré dans les moments les plus difficiles.” Écoutez l’histoire comment le phénomène Big Noon a captivé le public pendant la guerre mondiale brûlante et comment le propriétaire Olof Wallenius a réussi à amener le cheval aux concours dans l’Allemagne nazie. Voir le film! External link, opens in new window.
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