Lloyd Cox & Smart Kitty Rey RGAfter a week of tough cutting competition, The Non Pro Plus The Open came to a close in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, June 16. For trainer Lloyd Cox, of Marietta, Oklahoma, it ended with a bang in the 4-Year-Old Open finals, where he showed three horses, including champion Smart Kitty Rey RG.

During a competitive finals, the Equi-Stat Elite $7 Million rider piloted Tallica (Metallic Cat x Playin T Etta x TR Dual Rey) and then Smooothie (Smooth As A Cat x Dualin Darlene x Dual Pep) to mark scores of 180 and 218.5, respectively, in the first bunch. Smoothie held the lead until the second set, when Cox climbed aboard Smart Kitty Rey RG, owned by Monty Johnson, of Weatherford, Texas, to score a 221 for the win.

The performance by Cox and Smart Kitty Rey RG (Dual Rey x Smart Kitty RG x High Brow Cat) marked the first win for the mare, who had earnings of $11,579 prior to the Non Pro Plus The Open, according to Equi-Stat. She earned that money in one fell swoop, tying for fourth in the 4-Year-Old Open at the Abilene Spectacular.

“In all honesty, she [Smart Kitty Rey RG] has been a really good mare, but in the past we haven’t done as good as we should have,” Cox said of the horse bred by Gray QH-Nevada LLC, of Fort Worth, Texas. “But I think at this show, we finally came together for some consistency.”

Smoothie’s score held for the Reserve Championship. Cox and his wife, Christina, own the mare, who was bred by Roberta Thompson, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

“My whole team did good this trip and my wife was third on [Smooothie] in the Non-Pro finals” Cox said. “And to me, it’s always motivating for them to do well, so I think that helped.”

5/6-Year-Old Open

In the last set of The Non Pro Plus The Open, Cullen Chartier and Mo Faye Rey entered the cutting pen in the next to last hole. Despite few cattle left uncut, the pair marked a 222.5 to win the 5/6-Year-Old Open Championship.

Chartier, of Weatherford, Texas, and the mare earned a check worth $6,202 for their run. Mo Faye Rey (Dual Rey x Lil Lenas Sis x Doc O’Lena) is owned by Charlie and Denise Seiz, of Cedartown, Georgia, and now boasts an Equi-Stat record of nearly $65,000.

“This mare just really wants to get out there and do good every time,” Chartier said of Mo Faye Rey, who was bred by Black Rock Ranch, of Harrison, Idaho. “This is the kind of horse that you want all of your horses to be like.”

There was a three-way tie for the Reserve Championship with matching scores of 219. James Payne, of Overbrook, Oklahoma piloted both his mare Dizzy Lizzy Girl and SLR This Cats Kual, owned by Pete Woods, of Blanchard, Oklahoma to the Co-Reserve Championship. Dizzy Lizzy Girl (Lizzys Gotta Player x Snorty Girl x Snorty Lena) was bred by Bill Masterson, of Guthrie, Texas, and SLR This Cats Kual (High Brow Cat x Dual Kual x Dual Pep) was bred by Stump Lake Ranch & Cattle, of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Paul Hansma, of Weatherford, Texas, also rode his gelding Chex My Cat (Smooth As A Cat x Bueno Chex Dually x Dual Pep), bred by Sunrise Ranch LLC, of Fayetteville, Arkansas, to the split the title. Each duo received a check for $3,432.

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