The Second Chance Class at the West Texas Futurity will give riders who don’t advance to the second round of the Futurity Open another shot at bringing home some cash.
The class is a jackpotted event for horses that did not advance out of the first go-round of the West Texas Futurity Open. If owners pay to enter in the Second Chance Class, their horse will compete in another go-round, which will be run at the same time as the second go-round of the Futurity Open. Horses in the Second Chance Class cannot advance to the finals.
Skip Jones, one of the West Texas Futurity’s organizers, said the class is a way for inexperienced horses to have another shot. The event was well received during its debut at last year’s West Texas Futurity, he said.
“A really nice horse can get taken out for cows, for mistakes, for one thing or another,” he said. “And, it just gives those guys a relatively inexpensive way to get that horse to the herd again, possibly ready for the next futurity.”
The $266,500-added Metallic Cat West Texas Futurity is scheduled for Aug. 10-18 at the Tri-State Exposition in Amarillo, Texas.
In addition to offering the Second Chance Class, the West Texas Futurity also will use the leveling system under consideration by the National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA). It is one of three major limited-age cuttings to test the system this summer and fall, joining two Pacific Coast Cutting Horse Association shows — the Derby & Classic/Challenge and the Futurity – in trying the new format.
The proposed leveling format has Open, Non-Pro and Amateur divisions that each have separate earnings-restricted Intermediate and Limited classes as well as a class for riders with the most lifetime earnings. The leveling system allows entrants to cut in multiple classes by riding against competitors in the upper earnings bracket – a rider whose lifetime earnings qualifies for the Limited can also enter the Intermediate class against riders who have earned more money, for example – but they do not have to do so.
The West Texas Futurity’s decision to use the leveling system had generated a lot of interest, Jones said, and he urged anyone who plans on attending the show in Amarillo to get stall reservations in as soon as possible.
That’s especially important now, Jones said, because organizers don’t have as much leeway as they normally do when it comes to how many stalls they order for the event. Typically, the show has some wiggle room because another big show is held at the same facility right after the West Texas Futurity.
However, that show moved to Fort Worth this year, which means organizers for the West Texas Futurity need to be more precise with their stall counts this year, Jones said. For more information and stall contacts, visit westtexasfuturity.com.
Last year, James Payne rode Stylish Hailee (Halreycious x Keep Me In Style x Docs Stylish Oak) to the West Texas Futurity Open Championship for owner Kathleen Moore. Futurity Open Reserve Champions were Rose Valley Ranch’s Tears From Heaven (Dual Pep x Cat O Connor x High Brow Cat) and trainer Matt Miller.
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