stylish-play-lena

Mares With Multiples In The NCHA Futurity

stylish-play-lenaStylish Play Lena and Lloyd Cox at the 2003 NCHA Summer SpectacularThe National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) Futurity Open is underway in Fort Worth, Texas. For six straight days, the first go of the Open will welcome unproven 3-year-olds into the Will Rogers Memorial Coliseum. A total of 599 horses will seek to advance to the Open second-go, which begins on Nov. 26. Some of those same horses will return for the Non-Pro first go on Nov. 29, where 418 horses will compete for a spot in the second go, which starts on Dec. 3.

These several hundred Futurity hopefuls are the result of a breeding decision that was made four years ago, in 2010. For some breeders, the decision wasn’t just about one stallion and one mare. Good mares are often carefully managed to produce multiple embryos in one year, sometimes by various stallions.

This year’s Futurity crop included multiple embryos from no fewer than 78 mares. Those 78 mares are represented by 168 foals in the first rounds of the NCHA Futurity. While most of the mares have just two entries, eight are represented by three. Two mares – CDs Masterpiece and Stylish Play Lena – will have four offspring each in the first go.

CDs Masterpiece (CD Olena x Play A Masterpiece x Freckles Playboy) is a 1999 mare bred by Edith Kuhn, of Woodside, California, and owned by Matt Gaines Cutting Horses, of Weatherford, Texas. She has total offspring earnings of $183,663 with four money-earners to date.

An earner of $112,127 during her cutting career, CDs Masterpiece’s No. 1 earner is 2004 mare Hickorys Indian Macy, by Hickorys Indian Pep. Unshown as a 3-year-old, Hickorys Indian Macy and Don Pooley finished third in the Classic/Challenge Limited Open at the 2009 NCHA Super Stakes. Non-pro Marcy Blanchard also successfully showed the mare in limited-age events and weekend shows through 2013, adding to Hickory Indian Macy’s Equi-Stat record of $101,240. Among their achievements is a win in the 2011 NCHA Eastern National Championships Non-Pro.

CDs Masterpiece has also produced Mercedes Smoothe (mare by Smooth As A Cat), an earner of $70,871 who was an Open semifinalist at the 2012 NCHA Futurity, CDs Smooth Cat (gelding by Smooth As A Cat), who was an Amateur semifinalist at the 2011 NCHA Futurity and has earnings of $10,672, and 2009 Dual Smart Rey gelding CDs Smartrey, an earner of $879.

CDs Masterpiece will be represented at the NCHA Futurity this year by Andreya (mare by Dual Rey), Count Me In (stallion by Im Countin Checks), Onemastrpieceatatime (stallion by One Time Pepto) and Pocket Thief (stallion by Im Countin Checks). The first three are owned by Matt Gaines and slated to compete in the Open, while Bob Kingsley owns Pocket Thief, who is entered in the Non-Pro. They represent her entire 2011 foal crop.

Stylish Play Lena (Docs Stylish Oak x Play Lena x Freckles Playboy) is a 1997 mare bred by Drummond Land and Cattle in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, and owned by Double Dove Ranch in Benbrook, Texas. She has 11 money-earners, according to Equi-Stat, with total offspring earnings of $1,026,945, topped by 2008 stallion Hottish, by Spots Hot. She is currently No. 19 on the dam’s list in Equi-Stat lifetime cutting statistics.

Hottish was an Open finalist at the 2011 NCHA Futurity, and went on to win the NCHA Derby Open, Breeder’s Invitational Derby Open and Super Stakes Non-Pro in 2012. His total earnings exceed $300,000. He is also one of several Stylish Play Lena sons to stand at stud, joining 2002 stallion Halreycious ($227,459), 2002 stallion Reydiculous ($149,054) and the late 2001 stallion Stylish Rey ($30,235). Her other top offspring include 2005 Peptoboonsmal gelding Pepto Boom ($231,865) and 2004 mare Charlies Angel Rey ($37,277).

Stylish Play Lena was an Open semifinalist at the NCHA Futurity in 2000, and her offspring have fared well there, too. Hottish was 11th in the Open finals, and Charlies Angel Rey and Havanna Lights, by CD Lights, were Amateur semifinalists.

This year, Stylish Play Lena will be represented in the NCHA Futurity Open by Patroan (by High Brow CD) and Smooth Talkin Style (by Smooth As A Cat), both owned by Gail Holmes, and Such A Smooth Style (by Smooth As A Cat), owned by Reata Cutting Horses LLC. Smooth Operator, by Smooth As A Cat, will compete in the Non-Pro with Robert Borick. They represent all of her four registered foals for 2011.

There are eight mares with three offspring entered in the NCHA Futurity. They are:

  • Classical CD (CD Olena x San Jo Pat x San Jo Lena) – Classy CD Cat (by High Brow Cat), and Metalena and Metallica CD (both by Metallic Cat)
  • Desire Some Freckles (Freckles Playboy x Genuine Desire x Genuine Doc) – Desires Champion Cat (by High Brow Cat), Desires Onetime Ruby (by One Time Pepto) and Desires Smooth Cat (by Smooth As A Cat)
  • Kittens (High Brow Cat x Starlights Liz x Grays Starlight) – Chyna, Kitkat and Prowling Pepto (all by Peptoboonsmal)
  • Little Baby Sister (Dual Pep x San Jo Pat x San Jo Lena) – Lethal Spoon (by Hes A Peptospoonful), Our Third Sister (by Third Cutting) and Sister CD Sis (by CD Olena)
  • Miss Woody Two Shoes (High Brow Cat x Miss Echo Wood x Doctor Wood) – Chex For Shoes (by Im Countin Checks), Duchess Hera (by Docs Stylish Oak) and Woodys Time To Win (by One Time Pepto)
  • Scooters Stylish Oak (Docs Stylish Oak x Scooters Playmate x Freckles Playboy) – High Scootin (by High Brow Cat), Miss Stylish Rey (by Dual Rey) and One Smooth Scooter (by Smooth As A Cat)
  • Some Kinda Sweety (Sweet Lil Pepto x Some Kinda Memories x Smart Little Lena) – Some Smooth Cat (by Smooth As A Cat), and Checkin On Sweetie and Some Sweet Checks (both by Im Countin Checks)
  • The Smart Look (Smart Little Lena x Dox Royal Smoke x Freckles Playboy) – Smart Lookin Reychal (by Dual Rey), Smart N Metallic (by Metallic Cat) and Shesasmartlilcat (by High Brow Cat)

While every effort was made to verify the pedigrees of all of the NCHA Futurity entrants, there were a handful of horses whose bloodlines we were not able to verify through the American Quarter Horse Association as of Nov. 20.

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