Countess Catrina followed up a very nice National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) Futurity finish with a crown in West Monroe, Louisiana.
The 2016 sorrel mare, working under Austin Shepard, posted a class-best 228 in the 4-Year-Old Open final at The Ike Derby and Classic on Tuesday at the Ike Hamilton Arena.
Along with the triumph came winnings of $21,000 for the team of owners and breeders Amanda and Rhein Standish of Baton Rouge.
Countess Catrina, by Equi-Stat Elite $5 Million Sire Im Countin Checks and out of Catrina Starlight (by High Brow Cat), now has an Equi-Stat record of better than $100,000. The cross seems to be a good one. Countess Catrina’s full sister, Deluxe Checks, a 2011 mare, is a winner of more than $287,200, according to Equi-Stat.
Father and mother also had impressive show careers.
Im Countin Checks had Equi-Stat lifetime earnings of more than $514,000. Catrina Starlight won better than $100,000 and has produced offspring performers with more than $634,000 in winnings.
The performance at The Ike — horse and rider carded a 216 and 222 in the first and second go-rounds — continued a good stretch for Countess Catrina. She and Shepard collected $86,742 in December for a fifth at the NCHA Futurity at Will Rogers Coliseum in Fort Worth, Texas.
As for Shepard, an Equi-Stat Elite $8 Million Rider, the victory marks back-to-back triumphs. Shepard and Kinky Bootz (Dual Rey x Sheza Stylish Cougar) captured the 4-Year-Old Open at the Augusta Futurity last month in Georgia. Kinky Bootz and Countess Catrina share genetic information from their paternal grandfather, High Brow Cat.
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