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Bar Nothing Dancer and James Payne made some noise at 2021 West Texas Futurity. • Photo by Lyndsey Lamell.

Bar Nothing Dancer & James Payne Score in West Texas Futurity

Bar Nothing Dancer and James Payne left no question as to the best run in the West Texas Futurity Open Futurity at the Tri-State Exposition arena, marking a eyebrow-raising 223.

After battling through two go-rounds, Payne and the Metallic Cat mare earned $16,000 for the win during the finals on questions on Wednesday, Aug. 18. Bar Nothing Dancer is out of the prolific mare Little Belly Dancer (by High Brow Hickory), who has produced more than $688,419 in winners such as Bar Nothing Dancer’s full sibling, 2020 Pacific Coast Cutting Horse Association (PCCHA) Stakes Open Champion Little Naked Dancer.

Owned by Kathleen Moore of Madill, Oklahoma, and bred by Lannie Louise Mecom, of Avondale, Colorado, Bar Nothing Dancer started her career in the early futurities instead of waiting for the National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) Futurity at the end of the year, but Payne said she is a “big Open Futurity”-caliber horse. 

“I started her and have always really liked her. She’d make a heck of a [National Cutting Horse Association] Futurity horse but she matured early and [I thought] it’d be nice to use her to go to small futurities and stand out,” Payne said.

According to Payne, he values the early futurities, because they’re where he built his clientele.

“Coming to [smaller futurities] has always been important to me. The way some of these better small futurities pay, it’s worth taking a Fort Worth-caliber Open horse to the small futurities,” Payne said. 

Reserve Champions in the West Texas Futurity Open were Look My Rey and Rodrigo Taboga, marking a 220 and earning $14,000. The Dual Rey gelding is out of Metallic Cat mare SVR Look Cat Me, and was bred by the Wrigley Ranches, of Ketchum, Idaho. 

According to Taboga, Look My Rey is a hard-working individual with a lot of try. He is owned by Pat and Lisa Taylor of Pilot Point, Texas. 

“They were the first customers in the USA that called me and tried to have a horse with me,” Taboga said, “thank you to the owners Pat and Lisa Taylor for believing in my program.”