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CR Tuff Boo Bear and Cheyenne Johnson triumphed in The 41 Non-Pro at the 2020 Augusta Futurity. • Kelsey Pecsek Hruska.

CR Tuff Boo Bear & Cheyenne Johnson Stellar in Augusta Debut

Cheyenne Johnson tried to keep her expectations in check as she prepared CR Tuff Boo Bear for The 41 Non-Pro at the Augusta Futurity. Think practical. Keep things simple. 

“My goal was to just kind of have a solid clean run,” she said of the daughter of Woody Be Tuff. “I feel like if I could kind of do my job and get her cows out in front of her, then she’s going to do hers and kind of take care of the rest.”

It turned out to be a pretty good plan. Johnson of Pine Level, Alabama, and the mare called “Boo Bear” made the right moves from the last draw in an eight-horse finals to mark a winning 220.5. In their first-ever trip to the show, won by just a half-point over Reserve Champions Blake Graham and Legal Dream at the event Thursday, Jan. 23, at the James Brown Arena in Augusta, Georgia.

Prize money is always great, but the night’s $8,397 first-place paycheck was even more important as it pushed CR Tuff Boo Bear’s lifetime earnings closer to Johnson’s goal of $100,000. The 2010 mare bred by Center Ranch had an Equi-Stat record of $72,519 going into the show and exited The 41 Non-Pro with just shy of $81,000.

She’s one of eight earners out of the mare CR April Boon, a daughter of Duals Blue Boon who has an Equi-Stat produce record of more than $167,000. CR Tuff Boo Bear is her dam’s leading earner, followed by her full siblings CR Boon To Be Tuff ($51,280) and CR Tuff Timber ($22,789).

The 41 was an any-age cutting held in conjunction with the Augusta Futurity. Featuring three classes — Open, Non-Pro and Amateur — the event honored the 41st anniversary of the show. It was held the first time as The 40 during the show’s 40th edition in 2019. 

Johnson was excited for her first trip to the Augusta event and for the effort given by her stellar show mare.

“It’s been a great week. It’s been an awesome week,” she said. “She’s been incredible and it went way better than I ever imagined that it would. It was an honor to even make the finals, so that was awesome.”

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