Karats N Oaks Cat and Russ Elrod Win Idaho Futurity

Now that futurity season is ramping up, talented horses and trainers set out for the Idaho Cutting Horse Association Futurity and Aged Event. A total of 19 horses made it back to the Futurity Open finals, but from a first draw, one cutter set the bar high. Karats N Oaks Cat took Russ Elrod, Terrebonne, Ore., for a memorable ride at her career’s first futurity.

The mare, owned and bred by Harvey and Lynette Doman, Bend, Ore., grabbed the audience’s eyes with her golden coat and bright look as soon as she cleared the herd with her first cow. Two and half minutes later, she marked an impressive 225. The Championship earned the horse-and-rider duo $11,010.

Lynette rushed down to the arena floor following her horse's win with tears in her eyes. After the filly was born, she was sold alongside her dam. Lynette said she bought her back as a weanling and this is the first horse she considers "hers."

The Reserve title was split by two 218s. One Time Sweetbreeze (One Time Pepto x Smart Sweetbreeze x Smart Little Lena), owned by Zoe Huffman, Whitman, Neb., and ridden by Lloyd Cox, grabbed a $7,939 check for Co-Reserve, along with a $550 purse for winning the Gelding class.

Russ Miller piloted Cat Naps, owned by R.J. Chambers, to the other Co-Reserve Championship

Derby Open

From their sixth draw in the second set of a 16-horse Derby Open finals at the Idaho Cutting Horse Association Futurity and Aged Event, Hottish and Lloyd Cox marked a sizzling 228 for the win.

The stallion (Spots Hot x Stylish Play Lena x Docs Stylish Oak), owned by Dustin and Deena Adams, Dublin, Texas, has hit the cutting world at full speed this year, gaining momentum every step of the way.

During the Sunday, Sept. 2, finals in Nampa, Idaho, he took on the early class leaders, Kit Kat Sugar and Pete Branch. The horse-and-rider duo had marked a crowd-pleasing 225 earlier in the morning from a fifth draw in the first bunch.

Last month, Hottish gained a narrow lead in front of Kit Kat Sugar in the National Cutting Horse Association Horse of the Year race. With this win, worth $9,551, he is putting more space between them. The horse’s trainer, Fort Morgan, Colo.-based Cox said that no margin is big enough against a horse as talented as Branch’s mount (High Brow Cat x Sugar N Dulce x Smart Lil Ricochet), owned by Lonnie and Barbara Allsup.

The Derby Gelding Open Championship went to Cat In Hi Definition and Scott Amos after a second-bunch 219.5. The Reserve Champion, with a 216.5, was Cat Light, ridden by Steve Oehlhof.

For complete results of the ICHA Futurity and Aged Event, click here.