PreyciousGem JColgrove 17HH

NCHA Super Stakes Classic Amateur Finals Come to an Exciting End

PreyciousGem JColgrove 17HHClassic Amateur Champions Joel Colgrove & Preycious Gem • Photo by Hannah HarrelOn the morning of April 5, the Classic Amateur finalists took to the arena at the National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) Super Stakes. Everyone in the audience was in for a treat. There were 33 horse-and-rider combinations set to show and the finals got more and more exciting as each run went on.

At the end of the first set, there was a tie for the lead between Katherine Van Boekel with Sweet EE Motion and Kenneth Warner with That Kotn Pikn Pepto. Both pairs had received a score of 217. Then, in the second set, two more duos – Joel Colgrove with Preycious Gem and Jimmy Baros with Two Time Dual – matched the 217, which resulted in a work off for the Championship.

Warner and That Kotn Pikn Pepto (One Time Pepto x Cat N Colonel x High Brow Cat) were up first and had some tough luck, as new cows had not been brought in prior to the work off. Colgrove and Preycious Gem (Halreycious x Pretty Jewels x Lenas Jewel Bars) walked to the herd next and laid down an impressive 220, which put them in the lead with two horses left to go. Van Boekel and Sweet EE Motion (Cat Ichi x Mimi Floyd x Freckles Floyd) gave everything they had, but came up a bit short with a 215.

All eyes were on Baros and Two Time Dual (Dual Rey x Lil Lena Long Legs x Smart Little Lena) as they made their way into the working area. They had just clinched the Classic Unlimited Amateur Championship the night before with a score of 220. They were not able to repeat that score, but they walked away with a 216 in the work off.

Colgrove, who owns the GCH Land & Cattle Company-bred mare with his wife, Jayne, collected a check for $7,570, which combined with the $1,405 they had won the day before in the Classic Unlimited Amateur finals to bring the Boligee, Alabama, resident’s lifetime earnings to more than $85,000. Preycious Gem now boasts an Equi-Stat record of nearly $24,000 with this title. Colgrove’s granddaughter, Madalyn, showed the mare at the 2015 NCHA Futurity, where they made the Unlimited Amateur finals, and in 2016, Boyd Rice made the Derby Open finals with her at The Cattlemen’s.

“It was fun,” Colgrove said of his successful runs in the Classic Amateur. “It was really fun to mark two good scores. I had a good time. She’s [Preycious Gem] pretty good.”

TwoTimeDual JBaros 17HHClassic Unlimited Amateur Champions Jimmy Baros & Two Time Dual • Photo by Hannah HarrelBaros and Two Time Dual also added a significant chunk of change to their bankrolls while in Fort Worth, Texas. They finished as Co-Reserve Champions in the Classic Amateur with Van Boekel and Warner, which paid $6,923 to each horse-and-rider team. They also earned $15,453 for the Classic Unlimited Amateur title. Their total show earnings of $22,376 elevated the gelding’s Equi-Stat record to more than $81,000, and Baros now has a lifetime record of more than $58,000.

Two Time Dual, who was bred by Michelle Cannon, picked up titles with Baros at the Pacific Coast Cutting Horse Association (PCCHA) Derby and PCCHA Futurity in 2016, and made the Open finals at The Cattlemen’s, Breeders Invitational and NCHA Summer Spectacular with trainer Grant Setnicka.

“This horse is just really pretty special,” Baros, of Blanco, Texas, said of Two Time Dual. “If I just do my cutting, close my eyes and hold on, he does the rest. I have great help with my trainer, Grant Setnicka. It was just fun. I had a blast.”

Wade Smith and Magistic Moon (Metallic Cat x Sweet Abra x Abrakadabracre) finished as the Classic Unlimited Amateur Reserve Champions with a score of 219. They picked up $14,750 for their efforts.

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