Jun 27, 2015 3 min read

Lee Trevino, one of the great golfers on the PGA tour, understood what it was like to overcome long odds. He never knew his father, grew up in a family of humble means and worked in the cotton field near his hometown of Dallas before starting his golf career.

He also understood the idea of high expectations in pursuing his love, once saying, “Pressure is when you play for five dollars a hole with only two in your pocket.”

Trevino went on to become one of only four players to twice win the U.S. Open, The Open Championship and the PGA Championship.

Roy Davis might not have come from that type of meager background, but he got his start in the same city, Dallas, and possessed the same type of self-confidence and perseverance to become one of the most succesful owners of standardbred horses.

Davis, who died June 16 at age 85, had a stable of outstanding horses; the two most notable being Barberry Spur, which won the 1986 Adios at The Meadows Racetrack, and Jaguar Spur. Barberry Spur won the 1986 Little Brown Jug and Jaguar Spur followed suit in 1987 after finishing second in that year’s Adios.

One of the men who knew Davis best is Dick Stillings, and his drive of Barberry Spur to the Adios victory was not only extraordinary but also packed with the type of pressure Trevino could appreciate.

“The nervous part was that the owners had reserved the outside (seating area) of one of the hotels nearby, and there was a bar set up and a band that was going to play,” Stillings said in a 2013 interview prior to the Adios. “The party was going to go on whether I won or lost, but that would have been the most embarrassing part, if I lost. That’s where the nerves came in. I was more nervous about that than I was during the race.”

Davis’ successful running of Royal Travel Services in McMurray allowed him the opportunity to purchase his first horse. Later, Davis formed Team Spur with Dick Stillings and his brother, Buddy. The trio steadily built an impressive list of horses. Barberry Spur, purchased for $40,000, was at one time valued at $7 million. Jaguar Spur was purchased for $50,000 and earned more than 10 times that amount in 1987.

The horses in Davis’ stable carried the last name “Spur.”

“When I was in Europe, I saw a soccer team called the Tottenham Spurs,” Davis told Evan Pattak of The Meadows. “It sounded stupid at the time but I was looking for a name with a Texas theme to it.”

Team Spur produced a numer of Breeders Crown champions, including Kentucky Spur in 1988; Esquire Spur in 1989; and a Yonkers Trot winner in Gunslinger Spur in 1986.

Davis had an influence on a lot of individuals, including Dick Stillings. He clearly remembers that Adios day in 1986 and the party that awaited. It stood as a sign of not only Davis’ desire for victory but his generosity to share with friends.

“I’ve been really lucky in my life,” he said. “I was fortunate enough to meet Roy Davis.”

Assistant sports editor Joe Tuscano can be reached at jtuscano@observer-reporter.com