horse and rider
MMB Spook Gotta Girl & Francesco Martinotti • Photo by Shane Rux Photography

Martinotti Makes First Congress Trip Count with MMB Spook Gotta Girl

It was the first trip to the All American Quarter Horse Congress for reining Futurity Level 2 Open Champion Francesco Martinotti, and it won’t be his last. Martinotti rode MMB Spook Gotta Girl (Spooks Gotta Whiz x Coronas Major x Major Vaquero), a mare bred by Luiz Fernando Simas, of Brazil, and owned by Giovanni Cioli, of Italy, to the championship title with a 217.5. The duo also claimed the Level 3 Open Reserve Championship with a 218.5.

“I’d never been there – it was the first time for me and for her [MMB Spook Gotta Girl]. I really enjoyed the time – it was awesome!” Martinotti said.

Cioli purchased the mare last year, and she’s been in training with Martinotti ever since. Martinotti said he and the owner didn’t know what kind of horse she’d be when they bought her.

“She is getting better and better, and we are starting to think she is kind of special,” said Martinotti, whose lifetime earnings when he arrived in Ohio totaled $116,143. “She’s really nice, she has a big heart and she tries more and more every day to work with me. That is so awesome.”

The Congress Futurity marked the second trip to the show pen for “Tina,” as the mare is called. Martinotti and Tina competed in August at the North Central Reining Horse Association Futurity, where they netted $2,456.

Having never attended the Congress before, Martinotti confessed to being a little worried about how the mare would react to the large and noisy crowds.

“I didn’t know how she’d do there with all the people and horses, but she was awesome all week. I didn’t have any trouble with her,” he said. “It was not easy; she had to figure the ground out a little bit, but she was really good every day.”

During her Congress run, Tina had really good circles, Martinotti said.

“She plus-halved in both, and we plus-halved both turns,” he added. “She didn’t stop like she can do, but we will work on that, and she will be better in the future.

“Step by step, she is getting better at every show, so we feel good for [her] future.”

Martinotti’s favorite quality about Tina, he said, is her personality.

“She is really fun. You just got to really know her because she is different. She looks like a baby, every day, but when I ride her, she’s really focused on what she has to do. She is getting really broke and we have big expectations for her!”

Following her Congress win, Tina was to get some time off from training and the show pen. Then, the pair will head to Oklahoma City for the National Reining Horse Association Futurity.