“She’s been awesome all year long,” said Drake, of Brenham, Texas. “If I didn’t make a mistake, there were very few days we didn’t get a check. That’s just how solid she is. So, if I could stay out of her way, I knew we could get a check, so I felt coming in that we were horsed up and ready, and I had a great support team and I just felt like we had a shot.”
They finished with a combined score of 433 (222/211). That was good for $3,797 in earnings. They also earned Reserve in the chase for the $50,000 Amateur World Championship, which was won by Jason Reed and Chitas Cats Merada.
The Faith, South Dakota, resident and the 2008 mare by Cats Merada finished the year with $67,070 in eligible earnings.
$25,000 Novice Non-Pro
The 2017 NCHA World Finals and Futurity was a family affair for Traci Shehady, who won the $25,000 Novice Non-Pro World Finals Show Championship with Biscuit Love and also competed on the mare’s first foal in the Futurity.
Shehady and Biscuit Love (Smart Aristocrat x Get Her Flowing x Mr Peponita Flo) won the Championship with a 433.5 (214.5/219) and $3,552 in show earnings.
She also made the Futurity Limited Non-Pro semifinals on You Cant Buy Love, the mare’s 2014 filly by Cats Gotta Diamond. They’re set to compete in the third set on Monday.
“We wanted to make the World Finals and be showing her first baby and be showing at the World Finals, too, and just thought that would be fun,” she said.
Biscuit Love was bred by Shellbird Inc., of Silt, Colorado.
The $25,000 Novice Non-Pro World Championship went to Tyler Delange and Louis the Cat. Delange, of Fort Gratiot, Michigan, earned $45,259 on the stallion in the class this year.
Louis The Cat (High Brow Cat x Louella Again x Dual Pep) is owned by Delange’s parents, Amy and Mike Delange and his grandfather, Rick Dubay.
Bred by John Harrah, of Reno, Nevada, the 2009 stallion also won the $25,000 Novice World Championship with Casey Crouch.
