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Spots Hot Soars Over $1 Million As Sire

Spots Hot, the 2001 sorrel stallion who carried a young and at the time unproven non-pro named Wesley Galyean to the 2004 National Cutting Horse Association Futurity Open title, plus a fourth-place finish in the Futurity Non-Pro finals, recently topped the $1 million mark as a sire. After nudging across that plateau with foal earnings totaling $1,001,746 after early spring’s NCHA Super Stakes in Fort Worth, Texas, Spots Hot (Chula Dual x Sweet Shorty Lena x Shorty Lena) started soaring toward $2 million thanks to continued success of his offspring at the just-completed May 10-May 26 Breeder’s Invitational limited-age cutting in Tulsa, Okla.

Hottish (Spots Hot x Stylish Play Lena x Docs Stylish Oak), a 2004 stallion trained and ridden by Lloyd Cox, Fort Morgan, Colo., won Saturday’s BI Derby Open finals with a 223.5 to earn nearly $70,000, pushing his early career earnings past $160,000. Co-owned by Dustin and Deena Adams, Dublin, Texas, Hottish also gave his sire a helpful nudge toward the $1 million figure by winning the 4-Year-Old Non-Pro title during April’s NCHA Super Stakes, as he and Dustin Adams finished with a spectacular 227 effort.

Hottish is the third Spots Hot foal to earn more than $100,000, joining Harley (out of Catillion) with $169,363, and Some Like It Hott (out of Mighty Fine Sue) with $154,515. With Cox and Adams expected to compete again aboard Hottish at July’s NCHA Super Stakes in Fort Worth, there’s a strong possibility he’ll become his sire’s top earner soon.

After earning a combined $242,151 at their first cutting, the 2004 NCHA Futurity, Spots Hot and Galyean went on to earn several more titles and a combined $529,435 while competing through the end of the 2007 season. In 2009, the NCHA inducted “Spot” into its Horse Hall of Fame. With a limited number of foals from only three foal crops competing, he’s already ranked among the industry’s mostly highly respected sires.

Bred by Wesley’s father, Jody Galyean, Spots Hot had until recently been owned by Wesley Galyean and his wife, Kristen, who are expecting their first child, a daughter, at any moment. Sunrise Ranch LLC, Fayetteville, Ark., bought him from the young couple on April 3. He now stands at Don Ham Quarter Horses in Sadler, Texas.

Upon completing the sale, Wes Galyean called in a “bittersweet day” for he and his wife, but added it was a great opportunity for them and the horse. “Spot will always hold a very special place in my heart, and will be dearly missed,” Galyean said. “I will always believe in Spot and will continue to support him. He is such an amazing talent, I feel very blessed to have had the opportunity to have raised, trained and shown and now jump started the breeding career of this amazing individual. I’ve always known in my heart he would become the leading sire he is today.”