Grant Setnicka
Their second cow, a dirty gray, took a second to hook up with the horse but then allowed the mare to show her stuff. They quit at 39 seconds and popped out a solid red to finish on.
The 3-year-old red roan mare (Nitro Dual Doc x Smart Little Sally x Smart Little Lena) is owned by GS Cutting Horses, Setnicka’s training business in Grandview, Texas. Little Nitro Sally was bred by Black Rock Ranch, Marshall Chesrown’s Idaho ranch where Setnicka used to work. Setnicka acquired the horse in January of this year.
Setnicka’s GS Cutting Horses LLC owns Nitro Dual Doc, a 1998 Peptoboonsmal son who won $53,827 during his days in the show pen. The dam of Little Nitro Sally, Smart Little Sally, is a daughter of Boon San Sally, a mare who won $60,463 and went on to produce 14 offspring that have posted a little over $1 million, including Boon San Kitty ($555,504), RW Sallycat ($143,731) and Boon San Lena ($120,966). For her part, Smart Little Sally produced six babies that have won more than $100,000, including Sally Boonsmal ($38,904), Dual San Sally ($16,199) and Dual Sally Rey ($16,079).
ML Kadee Cat and Ashley Baxtrom won the Reserve Champion title with a 215.5 ML Kadee Cat (Smooth As A Cat x Kadee Lena Belle x CD Olena) is owned by Lori and Mike Jones, Cushing, Okla.
R.L Chartier, who won both the Derby and Classic Open titles earlier in the week, won the saddle for the Open rider earning the most money in all Open divisions of the show. He won a total of $34,800 through the week.
Derby Open
R. L. Chartier
Then it was on to High Dollar Cat (High Brow Cat x Dual Nurse x Dual Pep) and Galyean, who began with 20 seconds of playtime on a black heifer that appeared to get things off to a nice start. Galeyan then steered the horse into the herd for the second cut, one that came out fine but then took off toward the judges’ stand. When it came back, it contracted a case of speparation anxiety and was determined to have its way – full blast ahead. High Dollar Cat did his best to hold the testy cow and he prevailed, but not without some penalties along the way. Knowing there was no way to match the 223 score already on the board, Galyean chose to stop working before time was up.
The top two horses are offspring of High Brow Cat, the industry’s leading sire that just keeps building, building and building his already impressive record. High Brow Cat has more than $40 million in offspring earnings. His star foal list is topped by: Metallic Cat ($637,711), Boon San Kitty ($555,504), High Brow CD ($541,345), Smooth As A Cat ($500,038) and Oh Cay Felix ($439,324).
Smart Cat Moria is a mare bred and still owned by Ralph Gray’s Gray Quarter Horse-Nevada LLC, Argyle, Texas. Prior to showing at Amarillo, Smart Cat Moria had $32,838 on her record, all earned during the 2010 season. It began at The Cattlemens Derby & Classic where she and Boyd Rice finished 10th in the Open. Her next success was at the NCHA Summer Spectacular in July where she and Chartier finished fifth in the Open.
Smart Cat Moria’s dam, Smart Moria, is a 1991 mare who earned $55,468 in her show- days. She and Kobie Wood reached the second round at the 1994 NCHA Futurity and she won close to $30,000 as a 4-year-old and $17,233 the next year. According to Equi-Stat, Smart Moria has eight offspring that have won close to $450,000. Smart Kitty RG, a full sister to Smart Cat Moria, tops that list. Lee Francois rode her to the Reserve Championship at the 2008 NCHA Futurity. That success contributed mightily to the horse’s $191,998 in total lifetime earnings.
High Dollar Cat arrived at Amarillo with just $10,000 on his record, having earned that by reaching the Open semifinals at the 2009 NCHA Futurity with Galyean in the saddle. At Fort Worth, they posted scores of 217 and 214 in the preliminary rounds and a 210 in the semifinals. High Dollar Cat was bred by Cindy Smith, De Leon, Texas, and sold in January 2009 to Alvin and Becky Fults, a couple that lives in Armarillo. The Fultzes also own Metallic Cat, the horse Beau Galyean rode to the 2008 NCHA Futurity Championship and then guided to the 2009 NCHA Horse of the Year title.
Dual Nurse is the dam of High Dollar Cat, and she’s a mare who’s quite accomplished in her own right. As a performer, she won $118,367 in a career that commenced in 1996 at the NCHA Futurity when she made the Open semifinals with Lloyd Cox and Non-Pro semifinals with Linda Holmes. Cindy Smith took over the reins and made a number of non-pro finals at limited-age events over the next few years. Dual Nurse also cut a good bit at weekend shows, and at the NCHA World Finals in 2004 she and Smith won the cumulative average in the Non-Pro division. She has seven offspring with show earnings, a roster led by Macho Little Lena, a Smart Little Lena stallion ($105,629).
Seventy-five horses entered the Derby Open at the West Texas Futurity. In the first round it was Stylish Lizzie (Lizzys Gotta Player x Moms Stylish Babe x Docs Stylish Oak) and Oklahoma trainer Shannon Hall who topped the field with a 220.5. In second it was SDP Al Capoone (TR Dual Rey x Capoo x CD Olena), ridden by Colorado professional Lloyd Cox , with a 220. Tim Drummond, Pawhuska, Okla., owns Stylish Lizzie and Shane and Jane Plummer, Fort Worth, Texas, own SDP Al Capoone.
It took a 210 to make it back into the second round and it was some of the first-round low-scoring horses that came on strong in the next go. One of those was Reys Desire (Dual Rey x Playguns Desire x Playgun), the mare who Lee Francois rode to the 2010 National Cutting Horse Association Super Stakes Championship, after having placed sixth at the NCHA Futurity last December. At Amarillo, Reys Desire worked to a 219.5 in the second round and made the finals, where she put a 217 on the board in the first set and finished in a tie for third. Dr. Woody Bartlett, Pike Road, Ala., owns Reys Desire and prior to her showing at the West Texas Futurity she had earnings totaling $225,007. —KT
See the West Texas Futurity resutls
Classic Open
Special Nu Kitty and R.L. Chartier
Playin N Fancy Smart (Smart Little Lena x Playin N Fancy Peppy x Freckles Playboy), a 6-year-old mare bred and owned by Slate River Ranch, Weatherford, Texas, and ridden by Kory Pounds, Lipan, Texas, were Reserve Champions with a 221.5 to earn $9,000. Playin N Fancy Smart boosted her career earnings over the $360,000 mark. She has competed well with Pounds and owner Glade Knight.
At April’s NCHA Super Stakes in Fort Worth, Third Cutting and Dont Look Twice (High Brow Cat x Tapt Twice x Dual Pep), trained and ridden by Phil Rapp, Weatherford, Texas, tied for the top spot in the Classic Open with 226 scores, while Special Nu Kitty and Chartier finished third with a 222. Third Cutting and Dont Look Twice also made the Classic Open finals in Amarillo. Dont Look Twice and Rapp finished fourth with a 220.5. Third Cutting and Rice finished eighth with a 217 while battling through a dropped rein late in their run.
Special Nu Kitty, now a career winner of $238,074, according to Equi-Stat records, marked a 227 with original trainer Clint Allen, Weatherford, Texas, the first time she ever competed in her debut at the NCHA Futurity in late 2007. She made the NCHA Futurity Open finals with Allen then won a Breeder’s Invitational Derby Non-Pro title with owner Julie Wrigley midway through her 4-year-old season. The mare has finished near the top several other times, but this is her first victory since then.
Third Cutting and Dont Look Twice each picked up two points in the NCHA Open Horse of the Year standings by reaching the finals. Third Cutting, owned by Carl and Shawnea Smith, Jacksboro, Texas, leads with 60 points. Dont Look Twice, owned by Waco Bend Ranch, Graham, Texas, ranks second with 56 points.
Third-ranked LHR Smooth Jamie May has 52 points and is scheduled to compete at the West Texas Futurity on Wednesday, Aug. 18, in the Derby Open finals. LHR Smooth Jamie May, owned by Sherry Chamberlin’s South Lazy H Ranch, Weatherford, Texas, is trained and ridden by Phil Hanson, Weatherford, Texas. They will gain at least two points by making the finals. They could gain either 12 or six points with a win or a No. 2 finish.
By winning Tuesday’s Classic Open finals, Special Nu Kitty boosted her NCHA Open Horse of the Year tally to 32 points. —MT
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