2015 NCHA Super Stakes Leaves Cutters $3 Million Richer
Phil Rapp and Don’t Stop Believin. Photo courtesy of NCHA.
NCHA
The 2015 Lucas Oil/National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) Super Stakes and Super Stakes Classic, wrapped up April 18 as another multi-million dollar event for the sport of cutting, offering more than $3 million in cash and prizes to over 2,000 entries from across the United States.
The Super Stakes competition focues on highlighting the breeders of top cutting horses who subscribe stallions to the event in order to bring attention to their progeny.
The much-anticipated Super Stakes Open finals, which welcomes the top 4-year-old horses that advance during the go-rounds of the event, saw a tie for the coveted Championship title this year. Lloyd Cox rode Smooth Talkin Style to a 223 during the first set of the finals. During the second set, Phil Rapp and Dont Stopp Believin matched that dynamic performance to share the honors. Both winners were awarded $58,717 for their success.
Lloyd Cox and Smooth Talkin Style. Photo courtesy of NCHA.
Smooth Talkin Style, which is owned through a partnership with Bobbie and Dottie Hill and Gail Holmes’ Double Dove Ranch, was also the Open Reserve Champion with Cox at the 2014 NCHA Futurity where the horse made his debut as a 3-year-old. Following their victory in Fort Worth, Smooth Talkin Style (Smooth As A Cat x Stylish Play Lena x Docs Stylish Oak) has passed the $200,000 mark in earnings at just 4 years old. It was the first Super Stakes victory for Cox, who has earned nearly $6.9 million in the cutting arena and ranks as No.3 for top money earners within the NCHA.
Dont Stopp Believin, who was fatefully piloted by Rapp, NCHA’s all-time leading money earner marked his first win of this career at the Super Stakes. The horse is by Dual Rey and out of Dont Look Twice, the mare that Rapp rode to more than $800,000 in earnings.
Both Cox and Rapp received a Sean Ryon Championship saddle, valued at $6,000 a piece, a Jim Reno bronze trophy, Show Pro Cutters, Championship Gist buckles and more!
The Super Stakes Open paid out a total of $815,698 and saw the largest number of entries with nearly 300 vying for a shot at the riches.
Cade Shepard and Twistful Thinking. Photo courtesy of NCHA.
In the Non-Pro, 13-year-old Cade Shepard, son of cutting’s No.4 leading money-earner, Austin Shepard, rode Twistful Thinking to the Championship and earned $19,294. The duo cut last in the finals and marked a 217.5 to secure the win.
In the Super Stakes Open Classic, which welcomes 5-and-6-year-old horses, John Mitchell and the great mare Junie Wood took the competition by storm for a repeat victory. Their 226-point score led by four points to earn the pair $37,399. The 5-year-old mare, owned by Slate River Ranch, also won the Super Stakes Open last year with Mitchell not long after winning the Non-Pro Futurity with her previous owner. To date, Junie Wood (Nitas Wood x Tuffs Junie x Tuff Lena) has accumulated nearly $370,000 in earnings at just 5 years old.
A total of 219 horses were in the line up for the Super Stakes Classic Open for a nearly $400,000 purse offered as well as ample prizes including saddles, boots, horse supplements, Cinch and Cruel Girl clothing and more!
History also repeated itself in the Non-Pro Classic when Steven Feiner, Aspen, Colo., claimed the title for the second year in a row. Feiner rode Lil Rattler to a 222.5 to earn $15,478. With 183 entries, the Non-Pro Classic paid out just under $300,000.
Steve Feiner and Lil Rattler. Photo courtesy of NCHA.
When the dust settled on the evening of April 18, 2015 in the Will Rogers Coliseum, more than $3 million had been awarded during the 2015 Lucas Oil/NCHA Super Stakes and 14 Champions were crowned.
While they weren’t competing, attendants enjoyed various activities including a Brazilian BBQ, colt-starting clinics and the Western Bloodstock horse sale. This year, the high seller was Metallic Flo, a 3-year-old filly by Metallic Cat that garnered a $60,000 bid.
During the event, NCHA professionals also visited Cooks Children’s Medical Center. The kids enjoyed visiting with a horse, dummy roping and working the mechanical flag.
The third leg of the NCHA Triple Crown will take place July 11 through Aug. 1 in Fort Worth.
For more information, go to www.nchacutting.com.
A cutting horse is an athletic and willing animal possessing an innate “cow sense” and ability to respond quickly and turn sharply that is trained to keep a cow from returning to the herd. The horses involved are typically American Quarter Horses, although many other stock horse breeds are also used.
In the event, the horse and rider select and separate a cow out of a small group. As the cow tries to return to its herd, the rider loosens the reins (“puts his hand down” in the parlance) and leaves it entirely to the horse to keep the cow separated, a job the best horses do with relish, savvy, and style. A contestant has 2 ½ minutes to show the horse; typically three cows are cut during a run, although working only two cows is acceptable. A judge awards points to the cutter based on a scale that ranges from 60 to 80, with 70 being considered average.
