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Dustin Adams & Hottish For You • Photo by Dawn Baxstrom

The Cattlemen’s 4-Year-Old Non-Pro Ends in Tie

The Cattlemen’s Derby and Classic 4-Year-Old Non-Pro ended in a tie after two exhibitors marked matching scores of 217. The first was Dustin Adams, who rode Hottish For You from the third draw. Catching them at the end of the class were Kade Smith and Playboy Bunny.

Hottish For You is a homebred mare by Adams’ stallion Hottish, an Equi-Stat Elite $1 Million Sire. She is out of the High Brow Cat mare Rachel Davis. Prior to The Cattlemen’s, she had $1,458 posted to Equi-Stat, a sum earned from making the 4-Year-Old Non-Pro finals at the 2019 Abilene Spectacular.

“It’s pretty awesome because she kind of does some cool things. She’s similar to him [Hottish] in some ways, so it’s really fun,” Adams said of “Jessie J,” named after the English singer. “People have been having a lot of success on the Hottishs, but this is the first one of his colts that I’ve done really good on, so it was really fun for me.”

Lloyd Cox trained the mare as a 3-year-old, and Adams has had her back home since January.

“She’s an extremely talented mare, we’ve just been trying to get her consistent,” Adams said. “He [Cox] always said the same thing, just trying to get all the talent put together. I’ve had her back home since the first of the year and I feel the same thing, just trying to get all that talent going in the right direction.

“She’s really sweet, but she definitely has a motor,” he added.

Adams planned to keep showing Jessie J in the limited-age events throughout the year and was pointed next toward the National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) Super Stakes. He thanked his help, Glenn Campin, his wife, Deena, and those who helped him in the pen: Clay Johnson, Cara Brewer, Casey Green, Sean Flynn and Adan Banuelos.

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Kade Smith & Playboy Bunny • Photo by Dawn Baxstrom

Smith’s red roan stallion Playboy Bunny, a son of Metallic Cat, carried Smith to the 2018 NCHA Futurity Non-Pro finals where they tied for ninth, kicking off the stallion’s career with nearly $20,000. Playboy Bunny is out of Taquitas Playgirl (by Freckles Playboy), making him a half-brother to Sly Playgirl (by That Sly Cat), who carried Jaime Snider and Luis de Armas to earnings of $343,307.

“Jaime and Ashley Snider are the ones who actually bred and raised [Playboy Bunny],” Smith said. “Jaime is my brother-in-law. I ended up getting him as a 3-year-old in spring and trained him through the Futurity all summer. I showed him at a couple other aged events since the Futurity. I was half a point out one time and another time couldn’t mark above a [2]13. This was our first finals since the Futurity, so it was nice to finally get showed and be in there again.”

Smith described “Geo” as smooth in everything he does, a characteristic that helps keep cattle from getting startled when he’s working. He added the stallion has had talent all along, it just took finishing him out for it to develop.

“He’s just a real level-minded horse,” Smith said. “I typically ride more erratic horses, but this one’s kind of been fun because he doesn’t get flustered easily. That has kind of been fun to have one like that.”

Smith thanked his dad, Greg, and Clay Johnson for picking cattle for him during the week, along with Boyd Rice and Casey Green for helping him make clean cuts.

“My little sister [Sadee Smith] prepared him [Geo], so a big thanks to her,” he added. “She drove all the way over each day to get him ready for me. A big thanks to everybody that helps out. It’s for sure a team effort. It doesn’t just fall together on that day.”