NCHA Announces 2011 XTO Energy Super Stakes Champions

Source: National Cutting Horse Association Press Release

18 April 2011

(Fort Worth, TX) – The National Cutting Horse Association's Super Stakes and Super Stakes Classic ended its 20 day run April 16.

The show began March 28, and was presented by Fort Worth-based XTO Energy. More than 1,300 entries competed for a portion of the purse worth over $2.6 million.

Olenasduallyfeather and Darren Simpkins, Weatherford, Texas, took home the championship and $100,000 check after marking a 220.5. Simpkins showed the mare for her owner, Lisa Hewitt, Weatherford, Texas. Catch riding for Clint Allen, this was Simpkins’ first Triple Crown event win.

“From the first round to the second round and then in the semis, she felt really good,” Simpkins said. “After Lisa’s run in the Non-Pro finals, we just worked her on the flag a little bit.”

Olenasduallyfeather succeeded in eight performances in eight days between Friday April 8 leading up to the Non-Pro Finals April 16. She was bred by Jon Cates, Weatherford, Texas, and started training with Sean Flynn as a three-year-old.

“She really had an impressive move even then,” Hewitt said. “She goes into a stop and crouches and waits to see what a cow is going to do before she does it.”

Allen rode Moms Stilish Cat for Jerry and Vickie Durant, Weatherford, Texas, marking 217 points for a piece of the three-way tie for reserve. Beau Galyean, Amarillo, Texas, showed SVR Reyl Smart for the Strawn Valley Ranch, and Mackie Hursh showed Sticky Spot, a Spots Hot daughter, for Kyle Hooper, Andrews, Texas. Each of the them received a check for an estimated $62,000.

 

Classic Open

Reys Desire and Lee Francois, Murchison, Texas, sealed the deal in the same fashion they did to take the Super Stakes Open last year. Marking a 225, Francois and Reys Desire earned a $50,000 check for the championship.

 

“No question about it, she’s the best horse I’ve had to ride,” Francois said. “You always worry a little bit cutting a cow, but I’m real comfortable after I drop my hand on her because she’s in control then.”

 

The 5-year-old Dual Rey daughter is owned by H.B. “Woody” Bartlett, Pike Road, Ala.

 

Matt Gaines, Weatherford, Texas, and Special Nu Baby, owned by Gary and Shannon Barker of Madill, Okla., marked a 222.5 for the reserve championship.

 

The 21 Open riders had combined earnings pushing $50 million, and the 25 horses in the finals had average earnings of more than $107,000 each.

 

 

John Deere Division Classic Open

The non-working John Deere divison of the Open Classic title went to Brett McGlothlin, Weatherford, Texas, and Whiskeynadirtyglass, owned by Vincenzo Vario, Weatherford, Texas. The pair earned a check for almost $5,000.

 

 

Limited Non-Pro, presented by Matthews Cutting Horses

Kade Smith, Cedar City, Utah, and Spork not only won the Limited Non-Pro check for more than $9,000, but also received the McDavid Double Down Bonus, which doubled his earnings to nearly $19,000 for his 218.5 run. Smith received the McDavid Double Down Bonus because Spork is sired by the McDavid’s stallion Hes A Peptospoonful.

 

Smith purchased Spork from J.B. McLamb last year as a three-year-old. He showed the gelding as an NCHA Futurity Limited finalist and a Non-Pro finalist in the Arbuckle Mountain Futurity.

 

“I like him because he does everything real smooth,” said Smith. “Tonight, I sent him long one time on my second cow, but he handled it well and covered me.”

 

Dianna Helm, Nowata, Okla., and EE Ichi Bar marked a 217 for reserve. Helm and her husband, Bill, have been finalists in eight major Non-Pro and Amateur events on the Cat Ichi son.

 

 

Classic Non-Pro

After some time off of the stallion, Constance Jaeggi, Switzerland, won her first limited age event on Dual R Smokin with a 220 point run for the Classic Non-Pro and a check for more than $13,000.

 

Jaeggi, a Texas Christian University student, had two horses in the finals, drawing just one horse apart from each other in the first set.

 

“I didn’t do well on my first horse, so I was mad at myself when I went in on the second one,” she said. “It was a tough situation, but I got over it and focused on my second horse and it went well.”

 

Despite drawing last in the second set, Kaitlyn Larsen, Millsap, Texas, and Laredo Montana came in just a half-point behind Jaeggi with a 219.5 for the reserve championship.

 

“He was ten times better than the cows were and that’s all that I could ask,” Larsen said of the gelding by Light N Lena. “He was as good as he could be and he made them good.”

 

 

Classic Amateur

When Ryder Carpenter, Silverton, Texas, and Hangem Cat entered the herd, 220 was the score to beat, and they did just that with a 221 point championship run. It was Carpenter’s first major win.

 

“He went and hit some big time stops,” said Carpenter of the High Brow Cat son. “I haven’t shown him a lot, but he was really good for me here.”

 

Seventeen-year-old Carpenter is primarily a weekend show competitor, although he finished in the top 10 in the Amateur at the 2008 NCHA Summer Cutting Spectacular.

 

Hangem Cat had been trained and shown as a limited age event money earner by Wesley Galyean. The gelding was also the reserve champion of the 2011 Bonanza Open under noted trainer Jeremy Barwick.

 

Isidro Sigala, Weatherford, Texas, and Sofie Rey came in reserve with an impressive 220 points. The pair also won the 2010 Amateur at the Breeders Invitational and the Southern Futurity.

 

 

Amateur

Travis Linville, Fox, Ark., and Whata Stylish Badger, by Reys Dual Badger, marked a 218 for the Super Stakes Amateur win. Linville had owned the gelding for less than two months leading up to the win after purchasing him from 2009 NCHA Non-Pro Futurity Champion Kelle Earnheart.

 

“He’s the best one I’ve had at this age,” Linville said. “He’s easy to drive through a herd and you can move him around and position him and he listens to your body.”

 

Linville has been cutting for six years, and has been a 2008 NCHA Futurity Amateur finalist and placed fourth in the 2009 NCHA Summer Cutting Spectacular Derby Amateur.

 

Italy native Marco Sacchetti and Smart Freckled Cat came in just a half-point behind Linville with 217.5 for reserve. The pair were finalists in the NCHA Futurity Limited Non-Pro finals and placed sixth in the NCHA Super Stakes Limited Non-Pro.

 

 

Open Gelding

A pair of 220s won the Open Gelding division. Mate So Smooth under Paul Hansma, Weatherford, Texas, and Sir Stylish Lizzy under Michael Cooper, Bucyrus, Kan., drew up back-to-back and both came out on top.

 

Mate So Smooth is owned by Darren Blaton, Dallas, Texas. The win earned the gelding his first check. Hansma took over Mate So Smooth last spring.

 

“He tries hard, and he’s a neat moving horse,” he said. “I’ve been lucky with geldings the last few years.”

 

Darol Rodrock’s Sir Stylish Lizzy started showing as an Open horse just two months ago at the Tunica Futurity.

 

“He’s a good horse, but not many people know him,” Cooper said.

 

 

Limited Non-Pro Classic, presented by Matthews Cutting Horses

Drawing up next-to-last didn’t stop 25-year-old Brandon Dufurrena, Gainesville, Texas, and his mount Miss Ella Rey from a 225 point win.

 

“She does it all – she has everything that we want in a horse,” he said. “We can say that we trained that into her, but a lot of that is just her – just the way she is.”

 

The six-year-old Dual Rey daughter was trained by Brandon’s father, Ed Dufurrena. Since 2008, she has been a finalist at 21 limited age events.

 

Steve Feiner, Los Angeles, Calif., and Rascal Cats were reserve with 222 points, pushing the horse’s earnings closer to $130,000.

 

 

Non-Pro Gelding

Armando Costa Neto, Weatherford, Texas, and Smooth Dox scored 219 points for the Non-Pro Gelding win.

 

The pair were also finalists in the Super Stakes Non-Pro, placing fifth for a check totaling over $18,000. Smooth Dox has earned more than $50,000 with Costa Neto, as well as John Mitchell and Geoffrey Sheehan.

 

Jennifer Foland, Weatherford, Texas, and Cat Nasty came in reserve with 214.5 points.

 

 

Non-Pro

Cody Hedlund and Teles Bout This Cat drew up first to work in the 19-horse finals. They marked a 217 and stayed on top through the duration of the finals.

 

“I just went out there and tried to cut for the biggest check I could,” Hedlund said. “I didn’t know what was going to happen, but those cows got tough (as the event progressed) and kind of helped me out.”

 

Hedlund was also the last person to show the mare’s dam, Teles Lies, before she was retired. Teles Bout This Cat was sired by WR This Cats Smart.

 

“This mare looks so much like her mom when she runs and stops. She’ll just bury her butt in the ground. And she has some of her dad, too, the way she is up into a cow. It’s a good match,” Hedlund said.

 

Kade Smith and Spork, by Hes A Peptospoonful, came in reserve with 214.5 points. The pair also won the Limited Non-Pro earlier in the show.

 

 

John Deere Division of the Open

Tate Bennett, Hereford, Texas, and Reyn Maker not only made the Open finals, they were the only pair qualified for the John Deere Division to do so. In a non-working finals, Bennett and Reyn Maker took home the check for more than $9,000 for the win in addition to a finalists check in the Open.

 

 

$10,000 Novice Open and Non Pro

In another pair of non-working finals, LHR Catty wampas and Phil Hanson, Weatherford, Texas, came out with a $10,000 Novice Open win for their performance in the Open finals.

 

The $10,000 Novice Non-Pro co-champions were Frank Martin, Las Vegas, Nev., aboard Ms Crystal Highbrow and Sam Good, Mansfield, Texas, on Cat Toy. They each marked a 210 in the Non-Pro Finals.