Paula Gaughan

The final edition of the MillionHeir Classic, featuring an added money payout totaling $300,000 to owners and riders of eligible 6-year-old non-pro and amateur horses, will take place alongside the South Point Futurity Oct. 10-16. And a three-day Open cutting event for any-aged horses will take place from Oct. 7-9 at the Equestrian Center and Event Center, which is connected to the South Point Hotel Casino in Las Vegas.

“The Pacific Coast Cutting Horse Association is on board,” Gaughan said. “They have approved the show. I am grateful to them.” Pacific Coast Cutting Horse Association Executive Director Phil Benadum confirmed that the PCCHA has approved the show.

The lack of NCHA approval probably will hurt attendance at the three-day any-aged horse event, but it might not have as much of an impact on the limited-age show. “An aged event is an aged event,” Gaughan said. “I have the same amount of money up and I have the lowest entry fee anywhere, for what we are offering. I’m hoping that [the NCHA’s failure to approve the show] won’t have any impact.” The current state of the economy is actually more of a concern than the lack of NCHA approval, she added.

South Point Futurity limited-age cuttings produced by Gaughan in Las Vegas from 1994 through 2009 attracted a combined 9,059 entries while offering $3,105,304 in added money and a combined $8,884,542 in total payouts, according to Equi-Stat records.

MillionHeir Classic events produced by Las Vegas construction business owner, rancher and horseman Wes Adams attracted 861 entries while featuring $7,700,000 in added money and a total payout of $8,838,713 at 2004 through 2009 shows. The MillionHeir program originally offered big payouts to 4-, 5- and 6-year-old foals of designated sire’s offspring. It ends with a final show for 6-year-old non-pro and amateur horses in October.

The MillionHeir program had been intended to perpetuate shows with big payouts each year for Open, Non-Pro and Amateur riders through money from continued breeding to the designated sires. The plan did not attract enough participation to keep it going and Adams footed much of the bill from the promised paydays out of his pocket. Many MillionHeir participants have praised Adams’ integrity for following through with all payouts, despite the program’s failure to sustain itself.

Following a tough year in 2008, when entries dipped to an event-history low 348, South Point Futurity’s entries surged to 605 last October. Part of the increase was due to Adams’ decision to pair his 2009 MillionHeir cutting event with the South Point Futurity.

In mid June, after learning the National Cutting Horse Association had not approved the 2010 South Point Futurity’s requested October show dates, Gaughan said it was likely the show would not take place this year, ending a 1994-2009 run. Her stance changed in late July.

In denying approval of the 2010 South Point Futurity, the NCHA stated it deemed the event “not to be in the best interest of the association.” A standing district court decision in a still active civil court case involving Gaughan and the NCHA has directed Gaughan to reimburse the NCHA at least $75,000 for legal fees associated with the case. Court-order mediation involving Gaughan and the NCHA that took place during July did not succeed. The case remains under review with the 2nd District Court of Appeals in Fort Worth, Texas, following a June 15 hearing. No time frame for a decision has been set.

Without NCHA approval, money earned at October’s South Point Futurity will not count toward official NCHA earnings. Horses competing will not receive credit in NCHA Open and Non-Pro Horse of the Year standings. All earnings will still be recorded in Equi-Stat records. It records all cutting horse and rider earnings it receives. Equi-Stat is a division of Cowboy Publishing Group, which includes Quarter Horse News.