Reyzin The Cash & Gary GonsalvesIn the final night of the National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) Summer Spectacular, held July 11-Aug. 1 in Fort Worth, Texas, Reyzin The Cash and Gary Gonsalves made sure the show was something to remember.

Reyzin The Cash (Dual Rey x Spookys Cash x Miss N Cash), owned and bred by Tom Bailey’s Iron Rose Ranch, of Carbondale, Colorado, has a fan club in the cutting industry, and that group was far from disappointed after the 4-year-old stallion marked a stellar 227 to win the Derby Open with Gonsalves, of Millsap, Texas.

“When it’s your time, it’s your time. I guess it was our time,” said Gonsalves, an Equi-Stat Elite $3 Million Rider. “I’ve never won in this pen before.”

“Elvis,” who won June’s Pacific Coast Cutting Horse Association Derby Open with a huge 229, garnered $33,383 for this win. That paycheck pushes Reyzin The Cash’s Equi-Stat record past the $115,000 mark.

“It feels terrific,” Bailey said, adding that he was proud to own a horse of this caliber. “It doesn’t get any better than this. This is why we all work at it, but basically, cutting is fun.”

The Derby Open Reserve Championship went to CR Tuff Lucy (Woody Be Tuff x Lucindas Catolena x High Brow Cat) and Equi-Stat Elite $1 Million Rider Tarin Rice, of Centerville, Texas. The homebred Center Ranch-owned mare, whose lifetime earnings exceeded $156,000 prior to the Derby, pocketed $27,831 after marking a 223 from the third-to-last draw in the 20-horse finals.

Non-Pro

Twistful Thinking & Cade ShepardFor 13-year-old Cade Shepard, 2015 has seemed like a dream year. The Summerdale, Alabama-based rider started the year off with a championship at the Augusta Futurity & Classic, and he’s kept up his winning ways ever since.

When Shepard walked into the pen on Twistful Thinking as the second draw in the 22-horse Derby Non-Pro finals at the Summer Spectacular, he had already amassed more than $100,000 this year alone. In April, he topped the NCHA Super Stakes Non-Pro on the mare, making him the youngest rider to win the Non-Pro at an NCHA Triple Crown event. That achievement certainly didn’t stop the young cutter from striving for greatness, though.

Twistful Thinking (One Time Pepto x Some Kinda Twister x Freckles Fancy Twist), bred by Charlie Israel, of Birmingham, Alabama, and Shepard set the pace with a 222 and could not be matched. Their Championship paid $15,558, pushing the sorrel mare, who is nicknamed “Spot” because of her Birdcatcher spots, past the $75,000 milestone in Equi-Stat.

“It was very quick; it went a lot faster than any other run,” Shepard said after the finals. “I like going a little faster than soft when everything is slow. She [Twistful Thinking] doesn’t like the real slow cows. She’ll get a little freaked out and jump the wrong way. She likes the fast ones.”

From the last draw, Michelle Anderson, of Victoria, Texas, and Pink Catalac (One Time Pepto x Kitty Catalac x High Brow Cat) marked a 218 to finish as the Derby Non-Pro Reserve Champions. The mare, owned by Anderson Cattle Company and bred by Sunrise Ranch LLC, of Fayetteville, Arkansas, earned $15,101 for the performance.

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