Craig Thompson

Oh Cay Do Over (Smooth As A Cat x Oh Cay Shorty x Shorty Lena), a 2008 mare that Laura Collins also competed with in the Amateur division, and Thompson marked their winning 222.5 from a No. 4 draw in the 12-horse second set. Right after that run, Lach Down (Chula Dual x Oh Cay Shorty x Shorty Lena), a 2008 gelding that Patrick Collins competed with in Saturday’s Non-Pro finals, and Thompson marked their 220.5.

Co-Reserve Champions Spoons Lil Buckaroo (Hes A Peptoboonsmal x Chantilly Playgirl x Freckles Playboy), owned by Angier, N.C. cutter Shawn Ogni, and catch rider Dirk Blakesley, Augusta, Kan., marked a 220.5 in the first set to earn $11,251.

Oh Cay Do Over and Thompson, also the 2011 NCHA Futurity Open Champion rider aboard yet another standout 4-year-old horse owned by Pat and Laura Collins, earned $13,578 for the win. Lach Down and Thompson earned $11,251 as Reserve Champions. The also earned $8,317 as Augusta Futurity Open Stallions Stakes Incentive winners.

In the Futurity Non-Pro, Venezuela native Isidro Sigala, 27, Weatherford, Texas, and his stallion Sigala Rey (Dual Rey x Uno Tassa Mia x Smart Little Uno) won with a 223 to earn $7,315.Their score is the second-best ever posted in the Augusta Futurity Non-Pro division. Reserve Champion Christina Cox, Fort Morgan, Colo., riding Boozin Susan (Smooth As A Cat x Ricochet Freckles x Smart Lil Ricochet) with a 218 to earn $6,548.

Isidro Sigala & W.S. "Billy" Morris III

Oh Miss Caroline (High Brow Cat x Oh Cay Shorty x Shorty Lena), a 2008 mare bred and owned by Patrick and Laura Collins, earned $200,000 by carrying Thompson to his second NCHA Futurity Open title in six years, did not compete in Augusta. She’s resting and on track to compete at early spring’s NCHA Super Stakes in Fort Worth, Texas, her handlers said. Oh Miss Caroline’s full sister, 5-year-old Oh Miss Peacock, carried Patrick Collins to a Classic Non-Pro Co-Championship Friday night in Augusta.

Oh Cay Felix (High Brow Cat x Oh Cay Shorty x Shorty Lena), a 2003 gelding that carried Thompson to a 2006 NCHA Futurity Open title and Patrick Collins to a 2006 NCHA Futurity Amateur title, placed third with Collins in Thursday’s Mercuria/NCHA World Series of Cutting event in Augusta.

Steve Oehlhof

Smoother Than A Cat Classic Open Champion

Smoother Than A Cat, 6-year-old stallion with $84,193 in prior cutting earnings, but no signature victory, came up with one early in the morning on Jan. 28 by teaming with new trainer Steve Oehlhof for a 223 that earned them an Augusta Futurity Classic Open title and $11,291.

The horse (Smooth As A Cat x Smart Polka Dot x Smart Little Lena), owned by Jerry Bailey, Aledo, Texas, has always displayed talent, but he had never completely clicked with any of several prior trainers. He finally seems to have found a fit with Oehlhof, 35, Grandview, Texas, who has worked with the horse since mid-fall. The duo made its third final in Augusta, Ga.

“He’s a good little horse, a really good little horse,” Oehlhof said of his still relatively new and approximately 14-hands-tall partner. “He’s been around a lot of different trainers and he really didn’t do much last year. He [horse owner Bailey, who didn’t know Oehlhof before offering him the horse to train] brought him to me to see if I liked him and if we fit. He fit my style. I like to go fast, and when I want to go fast, he does. I told him [Bailey] that I thought I could win some money on him.”

Smoother Than A Cat and Oehlhof hit the arena a little after midnight while competing third among 11 duos in the first of two cattle sets. They ended up edging a pair of 221 scores, including one posted just before them by 2011 NCHA World Champion Bet Hesa Cat, a 6-year-old stallion (High Brow Cat x Bet Yer Blue Boons x Freckles Playboy) owned by the Bet Hesa Cat Syndicated. It includes his trainer, Austin Shepard, Summerdale, Ala., and his breeder Lindy Burch, Weatherford, Texas.

Augusta Futurity Open 2010 Champion horse Cat A Rey, again ridden Brad Mitchell, Thompson’s Station, Tenn., and still owned by Barbara and Kix Brooks, Nashville, Tenn., also marked a 221 late in the second set to earn $10,193. Cat A Rey (Dual Rey x Sheza Smart Cat x High Brow Cat), a now 6-year-old stallion, had previously earned $152,551 as a cutter. Mitchell placed third and fourth with 220 and 219.5 scores aboard two other horses and he rode all three during the early Saturday morning second set.

The 23-horse final ended around 2:15 a.m. Oehlhof didn’t mind working late for the win and then helping other riders compete. Several show days lasted much longer than usual this week because in several cases the entries simply far exceeded expectations.

“The show schedule here has been tough, which I understand, because they’ve had more entries than they’ve had in couple of years,” Oehlhof said. He returned to the 33rd annual Augusta Futurity for the first time in “seven or eight years,” citing more added money and the new stallion incentive program as the main reasons for his return. “It’s been a tough cutting for us [trainers, due to the long nights], but it’s all worth it.”

Dianna Helm (left) and Patrick Collins

Classic Non-Pro Crowns Co-Champions

Dianna Helm, Nowatta, Okla., and Patrick Collins, Lincoln, Ill., decided they’d rather tie as Augusta Futurity Classic Non-Pro Co-Champions late Friday night with 222 finals scores and draw prizes out of a hat rather than send their horses into the herd again.

Helm and 5-year-old gelding Arisoto Jazz (Smart Aristocrat x Sheza Jazzy Player x Freckles Playboy) marked a 222 from the leadoff draw in the second of two sets in the 20-horse finals to earn $8,112, a Champion’s belt buckle, a set of spurs and a vest.

Collins and 5-year-old mare Oh Miss Peacock marked a 222 from the final slot in the second set to also earn $8,112, plus a Championship trophy, a Reserve Champion belt buckle, a pair of boots and a set of stirrups.

Helm and Collins took turns drawing their prizes out of a hat. Both felt like winners and were pleased with their horses, both started by trainer Craig Thompson, Buffalo, Texas.

“This is kind of a neat little coincidence,” said Helm, who along with her husband, Bill, actually purchased Aristo Jazz from Thompson for $6,200 at a sale in Fort Worth just before he turned three. The horse had previously earned a combined $28,125 at smaller shows before picking up his top check and by far his most prestigious title in Augusta.

“It’s been 20 years since I’ve been here. We had an incentive horse in the 4-year-old. We didn’t advance with that one, but it was the primary reason we came,” Helm said. “This is a prestigious place. We brought four horses out and this he’s the only one that made it to the finals. This saved my week.”

Dianna and her husband Bill Helm are heavily involved in the cattle business. Their upcoming schedule will include proving about 7,000 head for May’s Breeders Invitational Cutting in Tulsa, Okla. The couple does a lot of its own horse training, but Barnsdall, Okla., trainer Tommy Marvin has also worked with them and their horses the past two years. Marvin has improved their cutting program quite a bit, Helm said.

Regarding he and Oh Miss Peacock’s 222 from their No. 10 draw in the 10-horse second set, Collins said he wasn’t even thinking about a possible title as they walked to the herd.

“What I was trying to do was be clean and accurate. Because we were last in the set, the cows were pretty challenging,” Collins said. “My goal was to get as lined up as possible and be very smooth and accurate. I wasn’t even thinking about the score. I was going to let the cards fall where they may.”

Asked about opting for the Co-Championship rather than a work-off, Collins said, it was an easy decision. “These horses go through a lot. My horse and her horse gave it everything they had. There was no need to go and do it again.”

Oh Miss Peacock (High Brow Cat x Oh Cay Shorty x Shorty Lena) is a full sister to 2006 and 2011 National Cutting Horse Association Futurity Open Champions Oh Cay Felix and Oh Miss Caroline, a 2003 gelding and 2008 mare both bred and owned by Patrick and his wife Laura Collins. Craig Thompson trained and rode both those horses to NCHA Futurity victories. Oh Miss Peacock has not quite matched her siblings’ earning power. Still, her second career limited-age victory, following fall’s Brazos Bash Derby Non-Pro victory, also with Pat Collins in the saddle, did boost her earnings to more than $62,000.

As Oh Miss Peacock keeps competing, she’s also expected to join her mother, Oh Cay Shorty, and double the size of what has been the world’s top one-horse cutting broodmare band. She’s expected to become a first-time mother next year, after producing an embryo after early spring’s NCHA Summer Spectacular in Fort Worth, Texas, Collins said.

Oh Miss Peacock’s 4-year-old sister Oh Miss Caroline did not compete in Augusta, but Collins and her big brother “Felix” did, placing third in Augusta’s first-ever Mercuria/NCHA World Series of Cutting on Jan. 26. That boosted Oh Cay Felix’s career earnings past $450,000. Oh Miss Caroline earned $200,000 with her 2011 NCHA Futurity Open win. Including Oh Miss Peacock’s total, the three full siblings have topped $700,000. There’s reason to suspect all three will keep adding to that total for a while. They also have five more 2-year-old full siblings, all owned by 2011’s leading cutting horse owners, Patrick and Laura Collins, just entering the early stages of cutting training.