Third Cutting (Boonlight Dancer x Crab Grass x Smart Little Lena), owned by Carl and Shawnea Smith, Jacksboro, Texas, and ridden by Boyd Rice, 44, captured a late-night shootout with a blistering 230 in the Open division finals of the 28th Borden Milk NCHA Super Stakes on April 19 in Fort Worth, Texas. See the original Back Fence video of the run above in QHN Winning Runs.
Boyd Rice
Until Third Cutting and Rice worked 21st of 23 and exited the herd at 8:24 p.m. (CDT), the lead had been held by Metallic Cat (High Brow Cat x Chers Shadow x Peptoboonsmal), owned by Alvin and Becky Fults, Amarillo, Texas, and ridden by Beau Galyean to a 226 only 11 minutes earlier.
Megan Miller, 27, who had never won an non-pro aged-event title, completed a dream shown on April 19 by guiding Sunday, Itawtathenapuddycat (Athena Puddy Cat x SR Miss Peppory x Doc’s Hickory) to a 219.5 and the Super Stakes Non-Pro title, which was worth worth $28,509.
Megan MIller
On April 7, Miller scored a 222.5 on Travs Scooter to capture the Super Stakes Classic Non-Pro Championship and $15,803.
Oh Cay Felix, a 6-year-old gelding that carried Buffalo, Texas, trainer Craig Thompson, 39, and owner Patrick Collins, 53, Lincoln, Ill., to National Cutting Horse Association Futurity Open and Amateur titles at the same 2006 show, won the Super Stakes Classic Open with Thompson on April 6, with a 227.5, the horse’s top career score.
“I told Halee [his wife] that there are a lots of points between 219.5 and 226 and she said, ‘There are more points above that,’ ” Rice, Spearman, Texas, following the run by Metallic Cat. “When it happens, it happens. I was lucky enough to cut three perfect cows. When it works, it works.”
Their winning score was just one point below the Super Stakes record of 231 set by Sunettes Dually and Matt Gaines in 2001.
Beau Galyean
Third Cutting and Rice thus thwarted the dreams of an NCHA Triple Crown for Metallic Cat and Galyean. The stallion won the 2008 NCHA Futurity and would have been highly favored to capture the NCHA Derby, the third leg of the Triple Crown, in July.
The winning run was reminiscent of a slugfest between much older cutting horses, yet here were two of the most dynamic performers from the current crop of 4-year-olds battling it out. Third Cutting, who had finished eighth at the 2008 NCHA Futurity, set what is believed to be an NCHA event record when he ripped off a pair of 222s for a 444 total after two go-rounds. The horse then marked a 219 in the April 18 semifinals. Metallic Cat and Galyean also won the Abilene Spectacular Derby Open and were solid at the Super Stakes, scoring 219.5-217 – in the go-rounds and then 217 in the semifinals.
“Those were two of the best runs I’ve ever seen in this building,” Carl Smith said. “Two great horses getting to show against each other was great to see.”
Third Cutting was purchased as a mount for Smith, but it didn’t take long for him to realize that he owned an Open division-caliber performer. An interesting twist to the outcome was that Boonlight Dancer and Rice had captured the National Reined Cow Horse Association’s World Championship Futurity, albeit in different years. Rice also is a former winner of the NCHA Derby, the final leg in the association’s aged event Triple Crown.
The victory was worth $121,173 for Third Cutting, who had prior earnings of $94,318, according to the NCHA. Metallic Cat, who had earned $318,466 entering the event, picked up $104,155. The stallion earned $51,300 from the Super Stallion Incentive Fund, a private incentive fund. The stallion received the SSIF $26,300 Super Stakes Champion award and the dam owners’ purse of $25,000 went to Chers Shadow.
Third Cutting’s winning run took on epic proportions after Rice cut an average cow in the middle and worked it for 25 seconds. He went all the way to the back wall in search of a yellow cow he had picked, but when he was forced to settle for a black cow, it was a fortuitous decision because they were able to work it for 20 seconds in the middle of the pen.
“I was looking for my third cow and she was standing right of me,” said Rice, who cut the cow with 18 seconds remaining.
Third Cutting doggedly held his position until the buzzer sounded.
Galyean, who turned 29 in January, and is competing as an Open cutter for the first time this year, said he felt great as he and Metallic Cat headed out of the ring with a 226.
“A 226 is pretty good in this building,’’ he said. “It just goes to show, you never know. I am very blessed and still very honored to ride him. He’s a truly brilliant horse.”
Alvin Fults was also quite excited about the duo’s performance, but also still concerned because of his respect for Third Cutting and Rice.
“A 226 is a huge score, but that horse [Third Cutting] had worried us all week,’’ Fults said. “He sure enough came and beat us. Third Cutting shined tonight. That’s for sure.”
He has no complaints about Metallic Cat’s career thus far after the two Open victories, plus Reserve Champion finishes at the Tunica Futurity and the NCHA Super Stakes in four career shows, Fults said.
It’s likely Metallic Cat will only compete at two more career shows, the Breeder’s Invitational in mid-May and the NCHA Derby in July, then retire to become a full-time breeding stallion, Fults said.
“We’re just blessed to have a horse like that come around,’’ Fults said. “We know it’s a once-in-a-lifetime deal and we are trying to savor every minute of it.”
In third place was Eyez On Me (Peptoboonsmal x Stylish And Foxie x Docs Stylish Oak), owned by Glenn and Debbie Drake, Napa, Calif., and ridden by Bill Riddle, Ringling, Okla., to a 219.5 for earnings of $87,137. The horse had prior earnings of only $4,578.
Eyez On Me and Riddle led most of the night, after marking a 219.5 from the No. 4 draw in the first of two sets. Eyes On Me signaled he will be heard from again, Riddle said.
Eyez On Me and Riddle won the Open semifinals with a 221, after marking a 219.5 and a 217.5 in the first two rounds. Winning the Open semifinals is almost a “kiss of death” for a finalist, Riddle said.
“I drew early and those two runs that beat me, those were just fabulous runs,’’ Riddle said. “I was so proud of him [Eyez On Me]. He did everything you could ask one to do. We are really proud of our horse and we got beat by two great ones.”
Bill Riddle
Dont Look Twice (High Brow Cat x Tapt Twice x Dual Pep), owned by Louis and Corliss Baldwin, Fort Worth, Texas, and ridden by Phil Rapp to a 218 for fourth place and earnings of $70,119. The mare had won the Augusta Futurity and the Bonanza Cutting for previous earnings of $64,360.
There was a four-way tie at 217, including two horses ridden by Wesley Galyean – Hangem Cat, owned by Steven Feiner, Los Angeles, Calif., and Mandalay Rey, owned by Alvin and Becky Fults. The other two at 217 were Magic Abbie, owned by Mark Stucks, Burleson, Texas, and ridden by Carlos Banuelos, and Metro Fletch, owned by Lee Tennison and Kit Moncrief, Fort Worth, Texas, and ridden by Kathy Daughn. Each horse earned $39,168.
Wesley Galyean's mounts in the finals earned $78,336. He also made the finals of the Gelding Stakes Open aon Hangem Cat and earned $2,640.
The Galyean brothers rode horses to total earnings of $185,131.
Rice also finished 22nd on Never Reylinquish, owned by Georgia and Dave Busby, Weatherford, Texas, and earned $11,120.
Super Stakes Non-Pro
“It’s just been a dream show,” said Miller, who had never won two titles at any aged-event cutting. She had finished first once in Fort Worth, as an Amateur division rider. “I can’t really believe it [winning both events].”
“He [Itawtathenapuddycat], a gelding trained and also ridden in Open events by her husband, Matt] is a special horse. He’s done well with Matt in the Open. He’s gotten better and better with every go-round. I feel like every go-round I can use him more and more.”
Matt critiques her after each run, Megan said, adding she tries to listen and improve, even after high-scoring runs. Herd helpers Jamie Snider, Lloyd Cox, Boyd Rice and Matt Miller picked many good cows during her twin runs toward Super Stakes titles. “It’s been a special couple of weeks for me,” Miller said.
Lindy Ashlock
Reserve Champion Lindy Ashlock, Baird, Texas, thought she had picked up a share of her first aged-event title in Fort Worth with a 219 on her gelding, Rey Nounce (Dual Rey x Peek A Boon x Smart Little Lena). Judges originally credited both Ashlock and Miller with 219 scores. Following a judge’s review of Miller’s second-set run, they adjusted her score up a half-point to a 219.5 and she won the title outright.
While understandably disappointed with falling out of the co-championship, Ashlock was pleased with the horse’s performance, and with faring so well at the Super Stakes.
“I knew when Tom [NCHA announcer Tom Holt] said there was an adjustment, something was probably going to change,” Ashlock said. “I had never won anything in this arena. It would have been nice to have won, but I feel very fortunate being here, period.”
Rey Nounce won the Non-Pro division’s first round at the NCHA Futurity in December, but then suffered a minor injury affecting his performance at that show and up until recently, Ashlock said. The horse did still reach the NCHA Futurity semifinals.
The former Lindy Merriman and her husband of three years as of early May, Wesley Ashlock, bought Rey Nounce at last year’s Super Stakes sale.
“He’s pretty wild. He’s come along a long way,’’ Ashlock said. “He’s pretty cowy. He’s got a lot of stop.”
Classic Open
Craig Thompson
Oh Cay Felix (High Brow Cat x Oh Cay Shorty x Shorty Lena) earned his eighth career aged event title, but his first in an Open event since the 2006 NCHA Futurity, to collect an estimated $59,453. That pushed the the horse’s career earnings past $400,000. “Felix” posted his prior career-best 227 while winning the NCHA Futurity Open with Thompson.
Collins, Lincoln, Ill., founder and co-owner of a cattle feed supplement business, Mix-30, has earned five Amateur wins and one Non-Pro Championship with Oh Cay Felix, a horse out of a now 18-year-old mare he and his wife, Laura, still own. Collins and each of his four now-grown sons competed successfully with Oh Cay Shorty during her cutting career.
While Collins and his four sons fared well at weekend cuttings and state fairs with the same mare, Oh Cay Felix boosted the businessman’s hobby to a level he never expected.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I ever dream I would go this far with a cutting horse, and I’m a dreamer,” Collins said after Oh Cay Felix’s latest achievement. “This is just way outside of my box. We’ve just been taking it a day at a time, and a week at a time.”
Bubba Matlock
Desires Litte Rex (Smart Little Lena x Desire Some Freckles x Freckes Playboy), a 5-year-old stallion ridden by Bubba Matlock, Weatherford, Texas, and owned by Weatherford automobile dealer Jerry Durant, finished as Reserve Champions with a 224 to earn an estimated $50,812. Desires Little Rex and Matlock earned 2007 NCHA Futurity Reserve Champion honors with a 222.5, their previous top career score.
Thompson and Collins agreed the key to Oh Cay Felix’s victory was his ability to control an exceptionally tough second cow, one that actually kicked at the horse soon after it was cut. The cow then pulled trick after trick, trying to run away and/or through the horse.
“If I cut another cow like that, my boss will fire me and my herd helpers [J.B. McLamb, Paul Hansma, Winston Hansma and Shannon Hall],” Thompson said with a smile. “That’s the toughest cow the horse has ever he’s ever held, and the toughest cow that I’ve ever held personally. He deserves all the credit.”
Gelding Open
Louis Noto and Sam Shepard
Dees Mr Charles, owned by Louis Noto, Cullman, Ala., and ridden by Sam Shepard to the Gelding Open Championship, tied for 18th and earned $16,581 for total earnings of $29,408.
Dees Mr Charles (Its Just About Me x Dees Dually x Dual Pep), a prior winner of less than $1,500, earned $12,827 about three weeks after being gelded by carrying his trainer, Sam Shepard, to a 218.5 and victory in the Super Stakes Gelding Open on April 18.
Shepard, 62, Magnolia Springs, Ala., and Dees Mr Charles, owned by Louis Noto, 62, Cullman, Ala., also competed in Saturday night’s Open semifinals, scoring a 216, and secured a potentially much higher payday in the Sunday, April 19, Super Stakes Open finals.
Originally, Shepard planned to prepare Dees Mr Charles “lighter” than usual for Saturday morning’s Gelding Open event because he would also compete in Saturday night’s semifinals with the same horse. That didn’t work out quite like he planned.
“I tried leaving him a little bit fresh this morning and tried not to get him too tired because of tonight [the Open semifinals], but then he was a little too fresh when I worked him, so I kind of chickened out,” Shepard said. “I told my assistant, ‘You get him ready and we’ll worry about tonight when we get there.’ ”
Noto, owner of Back Fence Videos, a company that videotapes all horses and riders competing at many National Cutting Horse Association events, including all three major aged events in Fort Worth, purchased the horse, at Shepard’s suggestion, after Dees Mr Charles failed to make the semifinals during his debut show. The horse and Shepard missed the 4-Year-Old Open finals by half a point at the Augusta Futurity in late January. When Shepard suggested the horse might compete better as a gelding, Noto agreed.
Noto owned a mare that made the NCHA Futurity Open finals and tied for 10th in 1999. This is the first time one of his horses won a major Fort Worth aged event. Gelding the only trained cutting horse he owns was a tough decision, but the right one, Noto said.
“We decided to geld him because there are a lot of studs around and the people that are buying horses are non-pros and amateurs and they don’t want a stud,’’ Noto said. “We thought it would make him a little bit better.”
Reserve Champion Coupe Dualville (Dual Pep x Bingo Legacy x Bingo Hickory), owned by Bar H Ranche, Weatherford, Texas, and ridden by Paul Hansma, Weatherford, Texas, finished as Gelding Open Reserve Champions with a 218 to earn $11,077.
Lost Wages Cat and Brad Mitchell, Thompson Station, Tenn., placed third with a 217.5 to earn $9,326. TR Good Day, ridden by Colorado trainer Lloyd Cox, placed fourth with a 217 to earn $7,567.
Limited Open
Jaime Beamer and Meradas Gotta Gun
Meradas Gotta Gun proved he’s gotta win by capturing the John Deere Limited Open division of the Super Stakes with Jaime Beamer on April 17. The victory, which the pair netted by marking a 217.5, was the first major NCHA win for Beamer, who piloted horses to the Limited Open finals of the NCHA Futurity, the NCHA Derby, and the NCHA Super Stakes in 2008. The team earned a $10,442 check out of a total purse of $66,988 in the class on April 16.
Meradas Gotta Gun (Cats Merada x Young Guns Katie x Young Gun) is owned by five-time rodeo world champion Viki Williamson, who was also the all-around rodeo world champion in 1988. An Argyle, Texas, roper, Williamson bred Meradas Gotta Gun after purchasing the 4-year-old stallion’s dam, Young Guns Katie, from Furst Ranch, Bartonville, Texas. Furst Ranch also owns Cats Merada.
Beamer and Meradas Gotta Gun, who cut three black cows as the 11th draw out of 17 finalists, dodged a bullet when they didn’t get the first cow Beamer had wanted to cut.
“The very first cow that was cut in the finals was our pick, but it turned out to be the worst cow of the whole bunch,” he said. “When that happened, my help – Bill Riddle and Phil Hansma – and I just looked at each other.
“The second cow was a surprise. It wasn’t one I was real high on, but it was in a good spot to cut, and it probably ended up being the best cow. The whole run went well except for a little bobble on the last cow. That’s why we have the team [to pick cows].”
Jaime Snider
Beamer, 40, began working with Meradas Gotta Gun, who he calls “Pistol,” in the summer of the stallion’s 3-year-old year, and would have shown him at the NCHA Futurity but he already had two other horses for that event. Williamson showed him in the Futurity Amateur and the pair went on to become finalists at the 2009 Tunica Classic, where the stallion and Beamer also were Open finalists.
Jaime Snider and Lannie Louise Mecom’s Raymantic took the Reserve title after Beamer and Meradas Gotta Gun edged them out by a half point. Snider, 29, of Avondale, Colo., began training on his own last year after working for six years with Lloyd Cox.
The pair earned $9,064, the stallion’s biggest payday since Snider started him as 2-year-old.
“He’s always had potential. We just had to put it together,” he said.
Raymantic (Dual Rey x Little Belly Dancer x High Brow Hickory) was bred by Mecom, also of Avondale, Colo.
Gelding Non-Pro
Mary Ann Rapp and Clarence Tye
Mary Ann Rapp and Quiverin Cat won the Super Stakes Gelding Non-Pro on the morning of April 17. The Gelding Non-Pro, which followed the John Deere Limited Open division of the Super Stakes Open. The Non-Pro semifinals were held that afternoon.
The Weatherford, Texas, horsewoman and Quiverin Cat (High Brow Cat x TM Quiver x Smart Lil Ricochet) marked a 219 that earned them $3,730 out of the class’s $48,660 total purse. They bested Julie Hansma, also of Weatherford, and Smartys Dr Freckles (Smart Lil Scoot x Freckles Real Doc x Real Doc) by half a point.
Julie Hansma
Rapp and the gelding drew the 40th slot out of 61 to show in the Non-Pro semifinals. She decided two events in one day wouldn’t be too much for the sorrel horse she and her husband, Phil, own.
"You always have to think about that,” she said. “In the past, I have scratched my gelding to save him for the semis, and it wasn’t worth it. So I told Phil yesterday, ‘It didn’t work last time, so I’m showing him, no matter what.’ ”
She marked a 212 in the semifinals and failed to advance to the finals.
Hansma, another Super Stakes veteran, also concurred that it hadn’t helped her geldings to save their efforts for the semis.
“I haven’t had good luck saving them,” she said. “This one’s not in the Open, so I thought if we needed to make any adjustments, then we’d know what we needed to do.”
She and Smartys Dr Freckles were rewarded with a check for $3,593. In the semifinals, they matched the cutoff score of 214.5. They tied for 19th and earned $9,379 in the finals.
Super Stakes Limited Non-Pro
Norda Berger
Norda Berger, 59, Houston, Texas, who had no idea the previous high score was 201 in the Super Stakes Limited Non-Pro finals, scored a 215 on High Classed JPB to earn the championship and $11,178 on Sunday, April 5.
Berger and the gelding (Cats Merada x High Classed Model x Gallo Del Cielo) worked eighth of 17 in the finals. It was the first victory at Will Rogers Coliseum for Berger, who had previous career earnings of $56,211 and the first major title by a Cats Merada ($177,835) colt.
The Limited Non-Pro division was conducted as a separate division for the first time in NCHA history. The qualifying round was held on March 31 in the Watt Arena, the newest arena at the Will Rogers Memorial Center, and the finals were held in the Will Rogers Coliseum Arena. The Classic Limited Non-Pro go-round also was be held in the Watt Arena.
Catlin Enright
Caitlin Enright, 21, a finance major at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, worked just behind Berger and marked a 214 on Twice Is Right (Smart Little Lena x Tapt Twice x Dual Pep) for the Reserve Championship. She earned $10,626.
Smart Little Lena earned $743,275 and has sired earners of $37.5 million. Tapt Twice earned $285,226. Dual Pep is one of the industry's leading sires, having sired earners of $21 million. Tap O Lena (Doc O'Lena x Tapeppyoka Peppy x Doc's Oak), earned $502,145 and has produced earners of $502,1145.
Jeffrey Gough
Jeffrey Gough, Graham, Texas, was third with a 213.5 and picked up $10,075 on Christmas Mate (Smart Mate x Quixote Christmas x Doc Quixote).
In the first go, he was good [213.5], so I had confidence,” Berger said of High Classed JPB, a home-raised horse who was gelded a month ago. “He gives me 100 percent.
She rode the gelding to the second go-round of the Amateur division and the Non-Pro division at the 2008 NCHA Futurity but failed to advance.
High Classed JPB is the first foal produced by High Classed Model, who was Berger’s favorite horse and earned $87,145.
Berger said trainer Kathy Daughn had worked hard to teach hr to stay focused as well as David Stewart, cousin of well-known trainer David Steward. She said the younger Stewart said she was limiting her horses' potential.
Enright, a native of Sun Valley, Idaho, said she just tried to have a clean run on Twice Is Right.
“I was happy with him,” she said. “I was just glad to make it to the finals.”
She scored a 213 in the go-round, a half-point above the score needed to advance.
Twice Is Right, who had prior earnings of $24,753, was ridden by Mary Ann Rapp to the Non-Pro Championship of the Pacific Coast CHA Futurity. Enright bought the gelding at the first of the year.
Gough, who worked 14th, won the Abilene Spectacular Derby Non-Pro on Christmas Mate, a gelding with prior earnings of $15,599. Super Stakes Amateur
Missy Rosenberg
When Missy Jean Rosenberg rode Fancy Sugar Badger into Will Rogers Coliseum on April 9 for the Super Stakes Amateur finals, the duo were leading after marking an impressive 219 in the first go.
They left cutting’s legendary facility as the same after posting a 218.5 from the 11th draw out of 31 finalists, winning the Amateur Championship for 4-year-olds and with a $7,213 check in tow.
The 30-year-old mother from Bush, La., cut the cows she wanted, beginning with a stubborn bovine that charged across the dirt, but refused to turn. It felt like forever before the cow gave Rosenberg a chance to show her horse, she said.
“I didn’t think it was turning away, but it finally did. I was a little timid on that cow and my help was screaming, ‘Get up! Get up!’ ” she said. “When I started riding her on the second cow, she really handled it for me. She’s a very good mare.
“I always cut the cows I want,” she added with a laugh. “I’m not very good at going in there cutting for shape. I need to know what I’m cutting and go on and do it.”
When the team pulled into Fort Worth, Texas, Fancy Sugar Badger (Smart Sugar Badger x Playboys Fancy Gal x Freckles Playboy) got a refresher course from trainer Michael Cooper after spending the last month at home. The talented mare took a break following her third-place finish at the Tunica Futurity/Classic Amateur in February after kicking the year off by placing sixth at the Abilene Cutting Spectacular.
After Rosenberg purchased “Fancy” from Rusty Vondra, Fairfield, Texas, in 2008, Steve Oehlhof finished the mare’s training.
“After Tunica, she’s been acting like a puppy dog, eating off the back porch and having treats,” Rosenberg said. “Our next event will be the Breeder’s Invitational, where I hope we get the chance to do this again.”
Holding lifetime earnings of $68,982 before her Super Stakes victory, Rosenberg has been cutting for approximately seven years. She took a year off after her 6-year-old daughter, Millie Joe, was born. Her other accomplishments include winning the top Amateur title at the 2005 NCHA Eastern Championships on Pepto Jack, where the team returned in 2007 to take Reserve.
Craig Kissinger
Craig Kissinger, Glenvil, Neb., piloted Smart Pepto Gal (Peptoboonsmal x A Smart Little Gal x Smart Little Lena) to a 216.5 score that earned them the Super Stakes Amateur Reserve Championship and a check for $6,902. The feedlot operator began cutting in 2001, and bought his first aged-event horse three years later.
Lynn Laske
“The mare pulled a suspensory [ligament] before the Futurity last year,” he said. “This was her first show. Last week was the first time she was on cattle again. We never expected this.”
Lynn Laske and CC Ote Mate (Smart Mate x Cetaote x Doc Quixote) marked a 212 from the final draw, which rewarded them with the Senior Amateur Championship and a $2,772 check. The team also tied for seventh and eighth in the Amateur, which netted them an additional $5,193.
Laske, 68, lives in Oklahoma City and is a member of a South Dakota ranching family. The Justin Boots sales representative began cutting in the 1970s, and in 2008, he and LB Smart Aleck tied for fifth in the Super Stakes Amateur.
Billy Crenshaw, DVM, and Rappacat (High Brow Cat x Rappatap x Freckles Playboy) took the Senior Amateur Reserve with a 211 score that earned the Beaumont, Texas, horseman a payday of $2,079.
Classic Limited Open
Short Scootin, a 5-year-old gelding that has made it to three Open aged event cutting finals in three attempts with his new trainer and rider Dan Popeck, 42, Lipan, Texas, in early 2009, dominated the John Deere NCHA Super Stakes Classic Limited Open finals with a 225 on April 2 to earn $5,082.
Dan Popeck
Short Scootin (Smart Lil Scoot x Shortcake Berry x Shorty Lena), owned and bred by Don and Debbie Jarma, Prosper, Texas, fared well with prior trainers and Open division riders Wayne Robinson and Matt Gaines while earning $36,817 as a 3- and 4-year-old cutter, but “Stubby” has been much more consistent with Popeck during early 2009.
In January and March, Short Scootin and Popeck made Classic Open finals at Abilene Spectacular and the Abilene Bonanza aged event cuttings. The slightly bigger than 13-hand horse and Popeck, who has spent 12 years as an independent cutting horse trainer, came up with their best performance so far, after clinching the first Fort Worth Open aged event finals of either’s career earlier in the week. They marked 217.5 and 217 scores in the first two go’s of the Super Stakes Classic and they will compete again on Monday, April 6 during the Super Stakes Classic Open finals.
“I hope to have the same score Monday. That would be good,’’ Popeck said. “That horse has a lot of look on a cow and a lot of stop, everything that can go mark a big score. He’s the kind of horse that can go and compete anywhere.”
Craig Gilham, a career winner of less than $12,000 as a cutter heading into this year , was the Limited Open Reserve Champion on Play A Bet (Bet On Me 498 x Play A Masterpiece x Freckles Playboy), a 2003 mare owned by John and Lica Pinkston, Alice, Texas. They marked a 218 to earn $4,454, the career-best check for the horse and the rider.
Popeck and his wife, Elizabeth, a nurse who works in Weatherford, Texas, have three children, Caleb, 7, Emilee, 9, and Allie, 10. Popeck trained horses that made prior Fort Worth finals carrying several clients, but his appearance in the April 6 Classic Open finals with Short Scootin will be his first, aside from two in the Limited Open events.
Short Scootin’s co-owners, Don and Debbie Jarma, 56, Prosper, Texas, own Short Scootin’s mother, Shortcake Berry. They have been quite pleased with her first foal.
“Stubby has been just a joy,’’ Debbie Jarma said. He was born at a Thoroughbred farm, where employees and visitors viewed him as a novelty, due to his miniature size.
“He’s still pretty little. He’s 13-1 and weighs about 850 pounds,” she said. “It’s just fun to have a horse that competes out of our mare, and to be her first foal. We are looking forward to having a lot of fun with him.”
Debbie Jarma and her daughter, Julie, compete as cutting horse riders. Julie and 2004 gelding Crazy Rey (Dual Rey x Short Handle Bars x Short Lena), also trained by Popeck, won the 2008 NCHA Summer Spectacular Amateur Derby.
Don manages a Thoroughbred racehorse farm and competes as a team roper.
Cherry Chex Dually, a 2004 mare owned by Marvine Ranch, Meeker, Colo., and ridden by Eddie Flynn, and Little Silver Belles, a 2003 mare owned by Julie Clarke, Bend, Ore., and ridden by Phil Hanson, compiled leading totals of 438 heading into the Super Stakes Classic Open finals.
Both horses were sired by Hes A Peptospoonful. Cherry Chex Dually (Hes A Peptospoonful x Bueno Chex Dually x Dual Pep), marked 220-218, while Little Silver Belles (Hes A Peptospoonful x Kadeee Lena Belle x CD Olena) scored 221.5-216.5.
It took a score of 434.5 to advance directly to the Classic Open finals. Scores of 434-432 competed in the Classic Open Wildcard round on April 4 and five of the 21 horses earned spots in the 25-horse finals.
Cherry Chex Dually had prior earnings of $134,054, including $50,018 for the Championship of the Abilene Spectacular Derby, $16,000 for a victory at the Breeder’s Invitational and the 4-year-old Open Reserve Champonship at the Music City Futurity. The mare has been a finalist five other occasions.
Little Silver Belles has earned $170,056. Hanson rode the mare to earnings of $104,629 in 2007, when she won 4-year-old titles at the Cotton Stakes Derby ($30,000), Mebane Ranch Festival ($9,449) and Idaho CHA Derby ($12,421). She also was third at the Pacific Coast CHA Cutting Stakes ($18,706) and ninth at the Breeder’s Invitational ($16,643). Classic Non-Pro
Kade Smith
Kade Smith, 19, Fort Worth, Texas, scored a 221 while working first on A Little Reylena, and his mark had held up until Megan Miller made her winning run on Travs Scooter. He earned $15,275.
“It was just a little scary and fast,” said Miller, wife of trainer Matt Miller. “I always have gotten her ready for Matt [who turned pro at the beginning of 2009] and this is my first year to get to show her, so it’s very exciting for me. She’s my favorite horse in the barn."
Matt Miller won the 2006 NCHA Futurity on Travs Scooter (Smart Lil Scoot x Travs Smart Buy x Travalena) and in 2007, won the Non-Pro Championship at the Music City Futurity and Brazos Bash and was NCHA Derby Non-Pro Reserve Champion. Earlier this year, Megan Miller finished fifth at the Augusta Classic.
“I think it is incredible,” Matt said of the mare, who had prior earnings of $163,439. “She’s the kind of horse everybody dreams of having in a lifetime. It’s awesome.”
The Millers were married on Sept. 6, 2008.
“I knew she [Megan] had it in her if she had the right horse to go down there on,” Matt said. “She deserves it. She loves that mare as much as I do.”
Matt and the mare marked a 216 in the first go-round of the Super Stakes Classic Open, but in the second go-round, they were last of the evening to work and their second cow ran over them. Megan and the mare marked 216-214.5–403.5, to tie three others for 20th, in the go-rounds. The final two spots were filled through the Non-Pro Wild-Card round on April 6.
Megan went two-thirds of the way into the herd to cut her first cow and the mare made a big stop while working the cow for almost 25 seconds. Then with 51 seconds left, they took on a good cow and it really was pushing on them before Megan found a spot to quit after 30 seconds of working time.
“We knew it [the second cow] would be a lot, but we knew she could handle it, and she did,” she said. “The third cow [a gold cow that was cut with nine seconds remaining] was just perfect for her.”
Miller, the daughter of noted cutting horse breeders and owners Frank and Robin Merrill, had prior earnings of $280,596. She recorded her first major aged-event victory at the 2006 Abilene Spectacular when she won the Classic/Challenge Non-Pro with a 221.5 on Sheza Stray Cat (High Brow Cat x Annie Prairie x Winnin Doc), a mare who was a Non-Pro finalist at the 2004 NCHA Futurity.
She captured the Classic/Challenge Amateur on Colonels Smart Gal (Colonel Barrachone x A Smart Little Girl x Smart Little Lena) at the 2002 NCHA Summer Spectacular. Her strong finishes on Carolena Moon (Peptoboonsmal x Lenas Sissy Moon x Doc O’Lena) included the 2003 NCHA Super Stakes Limited Non-Pro Reserve Championship.
The Merrills’ children, Megan, McKenzie and Tyler, were involved in a wide range of horse activities. At the 2000 American Quarter Horse Youth Association World Show, Megan won Western horsemanship and was Reserve Champion in cutting.
Smith, the son of trainer Greg Smith and his wife, Chris, worked three cows from a group that his help had picked in the settling process. He said he was pleased with the run and didn’t mind finishing second to Miller.
“It was an exciting finals,” he said. “It was just exciting to have a good run right off the start. I could relax the rest of the night, knowing I had a great run.”
During the cattle change, he took his mare out back, unsaddled her and gave her some water. He and his sisters then spent some time at the Western trade show and returned to watch the second group.
“I sat up there with my family and enjoyed the night,” said Smith, who said he wasn’t nervous while waiting to see if someone could beat his score. “Not really, because I had done so well. Whatever happened, happened. I had such a good run. I can’t complain. I ended up second. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
Some of the industry’s top non-pro riders were mounted on outstanding horses, but things went downhill when the third horse in the second group ran into trouble.
“Megan got through it,” Smith said. “That second cow was a lot of cow.”
Smith, who qualified with scores of 217-214–431, had prior earnings of $82,005, while A Little Reylena had earned $75,081.
In 2008, his first year of showing at aged events, Smith and the mare won the NCHA Classic/Challenge Limited Non-Pro with a 219. At the NCHA Super Stakes, he placed third in the Limited Non-Pro with A Little Reylena.
Prior to 2008, it had been 10 years since he’d shown in Will Rogers Coliseum, after winning the Junior Youth at the 1998 Western Nationals on Stylish Lil Jubie (Docs Stylish Oak x Jubalon Tari x Doc Tari).
Michelle Anderson, Weatherford, Texas, who led the go-rounds by seven points with 222-219–441 on Cats Quixote Jack (High Brow Cat x Oh Cay With Me x Oh Cay Quixote), scored a 218.5 to finish third in the Super Stakes Classic Non-Pro, earning $14,746.
Classic Limited Non-Pro
Kaitlyn Larsen and Billy Martin
By the second set of the Classic Limited Non-Pro finals, the judges were looking for a winner and found two. Kaitlyn Larsen rode Keechi Pep to a 220 just three runs before Kristin Galyean and Shady Boonlight matched their score to tie for the Championship.
Larsen, 19, waited out the second set, hand-walking her gray Playgun mare and texting on her cell phone in the loping pen. When the last horse walked out of the herd, she was thrilled that her “Fort Worth curse” had ended.
“I’ve had a lot of hard luck in this pen, not only on her, but just on every horse here,” Larsen said. “It just seemed like I never could get through a finals run and especially on this mare. I’ve never gotten past the second go on this mare in this pen.”
This year, the first go-round of the Limited Non-Pro classes was held in the Watt Arena, where Larsen marked a 216 to advance to the finals in the Will Rogers Coliseum.
“It was a lot of fun,” she said of her winning run. “We cut the cows we wanted to and I tried to cut them as clean as I could.”
She added that her third cut may have hurt her a bit, but her mare’s fancy moves in the middle helped make up for it.
Keechi Pep is a 5-year-old mare who is owned by Larsen’s father, Billy Martin of 72 Ranch. She has been shown by trainers Lloyd Cox and Matt Gaines in the Open and Larsen in the Non-Pro to reach more than $70,000 in earnings. Larsen won the Limited Non-Pro on her at the South Point Winter show last year and made the Non-Pro finals on her at the Cotton Stakes, the Tunica Futurity and the PCCHA Futurity. In January this year, Gaines finished Reserve on her at the Augusta Futurity and Classic.
Larsen earned her first check in 2001 and has since claimed more than $170,000 in the cutting pen. As of now, she said she’s focusing on cutting but plans to go into culinary baking and open her own bake shop in Weatherford, Texas.
Kristen and Wes Galyean
They say the key success is to be surrounded by successful people, and Kristen Galyean may be sure proof. The former Western Pleasure rider married non-pro-turned-trainer Wesley Galyean on Valentine’s Day this year and has already earned her first Championship. Out fifth in the second set, she and Shady Boonlight, a horse she bought in February, matched Larsen’s 220 for the win.
“I cut two cows that were both fast,” she said of her run. “My horse is really smart and did his job. He’s a blast to show, I really enjoy him. My cuts were clean so it just worked out for me.”
Galyean, formerly Kristen Glover, said she loved cutting, but making the switch in disciplines has been challenging.
“There’s so much to learn,” she said. “I learn something new every time I go out there. It gets frustrating sometimes, but when it works out, it’s worth it.”
Glover-Galyean earned more than $66,000 showing pleasure horses before she threw cows into the mix. She has already staked claim on more than $30,000 since her debut at last year’s NCHA Futurity.
Shady Boonlight (Boonlight Dancer x Shady Little Cat x High Brow Cat) was previously owned by Richard Bergquist and shown by Kristen’s father-in-law, Jody Galyean. He earned his first check as a 4-year-old and has since cut to more than $25,000. Galyean made the Open 4-year-old finals at the Tunica Futurity the past two years and also made the finals at the Augusta Futurity this year.
Classic Amateur
Kayla Norris
Competing third to last in the NCHA Super Stakes 5/6-Year-Old Amateur finals worked in Kayla Norris’ favor on April 8. Aboard Kual Gun, the 25-year-old posted a 222 to take a five and a half- point lead.
Norris, Sumrall, Miss., said she was a little nervous about her draw at first, but with two deep cuts and a gutsy third cut, she and her mare swept the competition.
“My first two cows were hard to get cut, but they were really good ones and they shaped up nicely,” Norris said. “Then we just chipped a third cow off the top.”
Norris, who has been competing at weekend shows for several years, bought her mare on the recommendation of her trainer, Austin Shepard, last year to gear her showing more toward the aged events. The two earned the Amateur Reserve Championship at the Music City Futurity last year and also made the Amateur finals at the Cotton Stakes, the Southern Futurity and the NCHA Summer Spectacular. This year, Norris and Kual Gun placed fifth in the Non-Pro at the Tunica Futurity and earned Reserve in the Limited Non-Pro. Norris has now won more than $30,000 cutting.
Kual Gun (Playgun x Dual Kual x Dual Pep) was trained by Sam Shepard and was previously owned by Alabama cutter Kenny McLean, who rode her to the Non-Pro semifinals at the 2006 NCHA Futurity. In 2007, McLean made the Non-Pro finals and Shepard the Open finals at the Tunica Futurity. To date, the mare has earned more than $60,000 in the show pen.
Andrea Sutten posted a 216.5 in the second set to earn the Amateur Reserve on her husband’s horse, Treymendous.
“I’m not used to him,” said Sutten of the gelding. “He worked so smooth, it makes it easy to ride him, but he’s quick. I had to remember to sit the stops and all the things you work on in the practice pen.”
Treymendous (Dual Rey x Royal Serena Belle x Shorty Lena) made his debut with Darren Simpkins at the NCHA Futurity in 2006 where the two advanced to the Open semifinals and has since won more than $45,000.
Sutten and her husband, Von, moved to Fort Worth 10 years ago to get more involved in cutting. Sutten joked that at the time they didn’t have the money to buy a horse.
“The first horse we bought we put on a credit card,” she said with a laugh. “But now we have a little bit of time and money to spend.”
Von Sutten founded Ready Real Estate in Fort Worth in 2004.
Read complete coverage of the NCHA Super Stakes in the June 1 issue of Quarter Horse News.
Subscribe to Quarter Horse News. 
