When it comes to sports, 1966 was a year of firsts for Atlanta.
It was the first year of the Atlanta Falcons. The first year of the Braves.
And it marked the inaugural year of the Atlanta Steeplechase, a premier event co-founded by John Wayt Jr.
The Atlanta native grew up in the Buckhead area. He rode horses as a child. He graduated from North Fulton High and, in 1948, earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Virginia.
After college, the blue-eyed twenty-something returned to Atlanta to manage his father’s farm, Seven Branches, located off then-rural Holcomb Bridge in Roswell.
Eventually, Mr. Wayt joined the Shakerag Hounds, a fox-hunting club. He pitched the idea to start a steeplechase; the members bought in.
In 1966, the inaugural event for what’s been called the city’s best lawn party was held on land along the Chattahoochee River owned by the Wayt family since 1936.
“It began as a backyard picnic with tailgating and socializing and all of that,” said Martha Kiser Wyat, his wife. “Now, it’s really a major event.”
George Chase of Atlanta, a Shakerag member, played a pivotal role in the Steeplechase start-up. He remembers an overwhelming turnout at the first race.
“The crowd was so big we had to let a lot of people in for free because we couldn’t handle the ticket sales,” he said.
The Atlanta Steeplechase has had three homes, as horses have had to make room for development. The first two were on Wayt property: On a bend in the Chattahoochee River; on the family farm on Bethelview Road in Cumming.
Since 1997, the race has been staged on leased property -- Kingston Downs, located between Cartersville and Rome near the Etowah River.
In a 1997 interview, Mr. Wayt said more than 100 sites had been inspected in the search for a new course. He praised the Bartow County location.
On Friday, the chairman and founding member of the Atlanta Steeplechase died of congestive heart failure at Dogwood Forest in Alpharetta. He was 82.
A memorial service for John Augustus Wayt Jr. of Cumming will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday in Kellett chapel at Peachtree Presbyterian Church in Atlanta. H. M. Patterson & Son, Spring Hill chapel, is in charge of arrangements.
Beginning in 1948, Mr. Wayt managed the family cattle farm in Roswell for several years. He raised eggs and introduced Gelbvieh cattle, a European breed, to the area. The farm was sold in 1967 and the family settled in Forsyth County.
Mr. Wayt served as chairman of the Atlanta Steeplechase until the early 2000s. For years, he sat on the board of stewards for the Maryland-based National Steeplechase Association.
In 2000, the National Steeplechase Association awarded the Eagle Scout its highest honor -- the Frederick Ambrose Clark Award for his support of horse racing. He also received a 1991 lifetime achievement award from the Georgia Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association.
As a kid in the 1940s, he learned to ride at the Fritz Orr camp. As an adult, he enjoyed fox hunting in Georgia and Virginia and owned several steeplechase jumpers and thoroughbred brood mares.
Jim Wayt of Atlanta said his father’s love for horses was an extension of his love for all animals.
“At one time, we saw him spend $3,000 or $4,000 to save a cow that was worth about $800,” Mr. Wayt said. “Any stray that walked across the property -- he’d take care of it.”
This year’s Atlanta Steeplechase is April 24.
“It will be in memory of and in honor of John,” Mr. Chase said. “The Atlanta Steeplechase has become his legacy.”
Additional survivors include another son, John Wayt III of Jamestown, RI; two daughters, Rebecca Buck of Atlanta and Marty McMullin of Richmond, Va.; a stepmother, Frances Green Wayt of Vining; a sister, Josephine Wayt Williams of Marietta; and four grandchildren.
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