Smooth As A Cat continued to cement his legacy in the Western performance horse world when he passed the $30 million mark as a sire.
As of Nov. 2, the stallion had sired the earners of more than $30.1 million, according to Equi-Stat. His 1,241 money-winning performers earned an average of $24,259.
That ranks Smooth As A Cat fifth on Equi-Stat‘s list of all-time leading sires.
The 21-year-old son of High Brow Cat has been owned his entire stallion career by the Manion family: he was bred by Tommy Manion, and is now owned by Manion’s son, Kyle.
“It’s been a dream. It’s been a dream come true,” Kyle Manion said of the horse, who stands at Weatherford Equine. “And to us, he is the most special horse … as far as his personality, his demeanor, his ability – and the fact that he’s passed that on to so many is, it’s a dream.”
Show Career to Breeding Barn
The 2005 National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) Horse of the Year, Smooth As A Cat won $500,038 in the cutting pen before embarking on his stud career.
He’s gone on to sire two NCHA Open Horse of the Year winners: 2010 champion LHR Smooth Jamie May and 2015 winner Smooth Talkin Style.
In addition, he’s fathered many crack non-pro and amateur mounts. In fact, his leading earner is NCHA Hall of Fame Horse Smooth Asa Zee, a gelding who was Mary Jo Milner’s mount for her 2013 NCHA Non-Pro World Championship campaign.
Manion attributes much of the stallion’s success to his ability to pass along his intelligence and easy-going disposition. For that reason, his sons and daughters have a knack for reaching their potential, whatever that may be.
“If their potential is to be a great Open horse, they’re going to make a great Open horse,” he said. “If they’re going to be a good Non-Pro or Amateur horse, they’re going to be good ones.”
Smooth As A Cat’s Leading Earners
Smooth As A Cat’s top five money-earners are, according to Equi-Stat: Smooth Asa Zee ($608,712, out of Zee Dualy x Dual Pep); Arosesuchaclatter ($324,471, out of Mates Irish Rose x Smart Mate); Smooth Talkin Style ($305,284, out of Stylish Play Lena x Docs Stylish Oak); Short N Smooth ($291,153, out of Playin Shorty x Playin Stylish); and Reystylin Smooth ($272,521, out of Rey N Style, by Dual Smart Rey).
In addition to the $30 million won by Smooth As A Cat‘s sons and daughters, his maternal grandsons and granddaughters (foals out of his daughters) have won more than $3.9 million.
Though the Manions always thought Smooth As A Cat was special — dating back to the first few times he was ridden — they never expected him to achieve this level of success, Manion said.
“Had we have never even gotten close to the $15 [or] to the $30 million number, we still would have been extremely grateful and thankful to own him and be able to ride his foals,” he said.
