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Exciting Runs at NCHA World Finals Top a Year of Champion Efforts

Jill Roth with husband Bill (left), Bea Pure Cat and trainer Tom Diaz (right). • Photo by Jennifer K. Hancock

Jill Roth, of Paso Robles, California, rode into the $25,000 Novice Non-Pro World Finals in second place with Bea Pure Cat, a 7-year-old High Brow Cat gelding. The pair marked a smoking 225 in the second go to win the round and not only take home the Show title, but the World Championship, as well. Roth and “Snoop Dawg,” hauled to 43 shows and banked $30,987, just $64 ahead of Reserve World Champions Sherry Graham and Lil Luigi Long Legs.  

Shane Crawford and War Dually held a commanding lead of more than $9,000 in the $50,000 Amateur Division, but the 14-year-olds had some fun in the final round marking a 218, which won the round and pushed their year-end earnings to $49,818.  The Show Champion title in the $50,000 Amateur Division ended in a photo finish. Ed Wold finished his run with a big smile in the final go-round with Big Bow Pepto, a 10-year-old Peptoboonsmal stallion. Wold said the run felt better than the 213.5 that soon displayed on the big screen. After the eight remaining runs were completed and what must have felt like an eternity, an adjusted score of 216.5 came over the loud speaker. With a combined total of 438 points, Wold and “Big Bow” secured the Show Championship by a half-point margin.   

After 53 shows, the first round of the World Finals, hundreds of cattle cut and thousands of miles traveled, less than $50 separated Phyllis Sorbet’s Hes Gotta Be Good, who was ridden by Tom Long, and Patty Walker’s CR Kittys Gotta, who was ridden by Gavin Jordan, in the $5,000 Novice. CR Kittys Gotta went into the World Finals in first, and Hes Gotta Be Good was second, but the two flip-flopped after the first go and Hes Gotta Be Good took a $47 lead in the division and they kept that exact lead after the second go. Long and “Benjamin,” a 7-year-old Cats Gotta Diamond gelding, finished second in the first go, third in the second go and third in the average to finish the year with earnings of $34,557 and the World Championship. Sorbet also finished fourth in the year-end standings with Benjamin in the Novice Non-Pro.

Mike Wood marked a 218.5 in the first go round of the $5,000 Novice on Buzzted, a Light N Lena gelding owned by Christine King. The pair topped the second go with a 222.5, which made them the Show Champions with a combined 441.

Complete coverage of the World Finals action and the 2016 World Champions will be in an upcoming issue of Quarter Horse News. Subscribe now!