austinrey

Austin Rey Wins John Deere Open

austinreyAustin Rey, with Candace Ryland and trainer Brett McGlothlin • Photo by Nina RosenbeckAustin Rey and Brett McGlothlin took the John Deere Open Championship and secured a check for $5,558 Monday at the National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) Summer Spectacular.

A win in Fort Worth, Texas, adds clout to any cutting resume, and McGlothlin was glad to see Austin Rey do it as his aged event career winds down.

“It’s his last run in the big pen,” said McGlothlin, who is the resident trainer at Buffalo Ranch in Fort Worth. Shane Plummer, of Buffalo Ranch, bought Austin Rey from Tatum and Kylie Rice at the 2013 NCHA Super Stakes Sale, paying the sale-topping price of $55,000 for the gelding. Plummer successfully showed the gelding in the Non-Pro at major aged events last year, while McGlothin competed well in the Open.  

Austin Rey (TR Dual Rey x Austin Cat x High Brow Cat), bred by Bennett-Martin Cutting Horses of Tennessee Colony, Texas, scored 220.5 in the finals on a run that just kept getting better, according to McGlothlin. The 6-year-old gelding entered the Summer Spectacular with nearly $170,000 in lifetime earnings on his Equi-Stat record, and is the leading money-earner for his dam, Austin Cat. She is a half-sister to the leading horse on the Equi-Stat All-Industry Statistics, Stylish Rey Gay, a 2001 Playin Stylish stallion with earnings of $53,676 in cutting, reining, reined cow horse and ranch versatility.

Finishing second with a score of 218 was Peptos Lil Acre (Sweet Lil Pepto x Crystal Acre x Christys Acre), ridden by Benjamin Johnson, of Navasota, Texas. The 2009 bay mare was bred by J.B. and Patricia Davis, of Buffalo, Texas, and is owned by Graham Lynch, of Magnolia, Texas. The reserve championship came with a check for $4,941, increasing Johnson’s Equi-Stat record to more than $155,000 and Pepto Lil Acre’s to more than $7,000.

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