Rieta Dufurrena and Ozzum ManRieta Dufurrena and Ozzum Man, a 4-year-old gelding sired by one of her family’s favorite horses, competed last and best with a 217 during Friday’s first round of the Augusta Futurity Non-Pro cutting competition.
“I think he’s amazing,” the young rider said after she and the horse clinched a spot in Saturday night’s finals in Augusta, Ga. “He’s real physical and he’s real cool on how he can do some things. He’s really fun, that’s for sure.”
Dufurrena also made Saturday’s finals with a 210 riding a Smooth As A Cat-sired mare named I Candi. Both horses are bred, owned and trained by her father, cutting trainer Ed Dufurrena, of Gainesville, Texas. He’s competing with two other horses during Saturday night’s Augusta Futurity Open finals.
Ozzum Man is the first competing foal produced by the Dufurrena family’s standout stallion, Auspicious Cat. The young horse previously earned more than $12,000 at five prior shows. Rieta’s father made four Open finals with him, while Rieta made one prior Non-Pro final with the young horse.
Auspicious Cat, nicknamed “Ozzy,” is a 9-year-old stallion sired by High Brow Cat and produced by the Peppy San Badger mare, Lenas O Lady. The 2012 National Cutting Horse Association World Champion Stallion has earned more than $226,000 during his cutting career. Smart Little Jaebar, a stallion who earned more than $155,000 as a cutter, sired Ozzum Man’s mother, I Got The Remedy.
Page Bowman, of Simpsonville, Ky., finished second in the first round of the Futurity Non-Pro with a 216 riding Roamin Cat (High Brow Cat x Love A CD x CD Olena). The teen rider’s parents, Mike and Libby Bowman, own Roamin Cat, a horse that Page earned a co-reserve title with during Thursday’s Futurity Amateur finals in Augusta. Bowman won Friday night’s Classic Non-Pro aboard Athena Mad Man, also owned by her parents.
