SmoothCowstruck

Matt Gaines Tops Southern Cutting Futurity

Peppys Cashin Checks (by Im Countin Checks), bred by Bobby and Dottie Hill, of Glen Rose, Texas, picked up a $14,000 paycheck for owners Eric and Katherine Van Boekel, of Mount Elgin, Ontario, Canada. This win brings the gelding’s lifetime earnings to nearly $40,000, according to Equi-Stat.

Peppys Cashin Checks, who finished fifth in the Derby Open at May’s Breeder’s Invitational, is the leading money-earner out of Peppys Stylish Lena (by Docs Stylish Oak), an earner of $184,334.

Francois and Matt Gaines shared the Derby Open Reserve title after they marked matching 219 scores. Gaines rode Peeptos Cat (Cat Ichi x Little Bow Peepto x Peptoboonsmal) to the $11,000 payday for owner Alexa Stent, of The Woodlands, Texas, while Francois piloted Lil Metallic Cat (Metallic Cat x Lil Foxie Starlight x Grays Starlight) for Richard Carney, of Kemp, Texas.

Classic Open

The Classic Open promised to be a good show by the line-up of great competitors on the draw sheet, and the 24 horses did not disappoint. In the end, a pair of 225s held on for the win.

Bamacat carried Austin Shepard to the first of those big scores from the sixth draw in the first set. The stallion (High Brow Cat x MH San Tules Dually x San Tule Freckles), owned by the Bamacat Syndicate and bred by Shepard and his wife, Stacy Shepard, of Summerdale, Alabama, earned $13,000 for the performance, closing his limited-age career out with more than $300,000 in lifetime earnings.

Skip Queen, of Allendale, South Carolina, rode TGI Playtime (One Time Pepto x Play Miss Lena x Smart Little Lena) to the second 225 in the Classic Open finals from the middle of the second bunch. The duo qualified for the finals after tying for second in the first go-round with a 220. With this win, the homebred mare, owned by Carroll’s Cutting LLC, of Turkey, North Carolina, boasts more than $160,000 in earnings, according to Equi-Stat records.

As 6-year-olds, both Bamacat and TGI Playtime have been doing double duty as limited-age performers and any-age show horses. Bamacat was ranked sixth in the NCHA Open World standings, while TGI Playtime was on the edge of the top 15 heading into the Southern.

For complete coverage of the Southern Cutting Futurity, subscribe to Quarter Horse News