JunieWood

Junie Wood & John Mitchell Top Super Stakes Open

JunieWoodJunie Wood and John Mitchell • Photo by Kelsey PecsekSome Kinda Highbrow and Austin Shepard set the bar high with 222, but 4-year-old mare Junie Wood, owned by Slate River Ranch, and John Mitchell topped it with a 229 to win Saturday night’s National Cutting Horses Association (NCHA) Super Stakes Open title and $75,000.

This is Junie Wood’s second victory in two visits to Fort Worth, and Mitchell’s first Open win in Will Rogers Coliseum. The career earner of more than $3 million as a cutting rider placed third in the 1998 NCHA Futurity Open and was the Reserve Champion in both the 2007 NCHA Summer Spectacular Derby and Classic Open finals, achieving those finishes also riding Slate River Ranch-owned horses.

Junie Wood, sired by Nitas Wood and produced by the Tuff Lena Mare Tuff’s Junie, carried breeder and original owner Craig Crumpler, of Wichita Falls, Texas, to the 2013 NCHA Futurity Non-Pro title and earned $58,825 while marking a final-round 220 during her first career show. Purchased by Slate River Ranch soon after that, she has competed with and been trained by Mitchell, of Weatherford, Texas. 

The new pair placed third in the Open finals at the Bonanza Cutting in Glen Rose, Texas, and tied for sixth at the Arbuckle Mountain Futurity in Ardmore, Okla. The mare is already a career earner of $161,598.

Super Stakes Open Reserve Champions Some Kinda Highbrow (High Brow CD x Some Kinda Memories x Smart Little Lena) and Shepard earned $54,084. Shepard and his wife, Stacy, own the 4-year-old gelding, and their son, Cade, competes with him as a non-pro. Shepard and High Brow CD were 2008 NCHA Super Stakes Open Co-Champions and they earned $543,161 together. Some Kinda Highbrow’s performance at the Super Stakes and those of a few other offspring pushed High Brow CD over the $1 million mark as a cutting sire.

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