Congress Open Stallion Wins Go to Smith/WhoIsIt, Jacobs/Best Kept Secrete, Roark/I Am Relentless, Castle/Fearles Fortune, Smith/PF Premo, and Grant/Inspirado

By: Brittany Bevis

First up this morning in Open Stallion Halter classes at the 2016 All American Quarter Horse Congress, Tammi Smith took home a big win with her new horse, WhoIsIt, aka “Baxter,” in Weanling Stallions. When Tammi arrived here at the Congress, she had no idea she’d be showing a horse in the class; she didn’t even know she had a horse!

“My husband got him for me for a surprise gift!” she says. “I’m not really sure what happened, but this is the story I got afterwards… I saw this colt at the WCHA Futurity and wanted Dewey to go look at him. He said, ‘Eh, he’s nice,’ and that was it. Then, I guess he must have gone back over to [the trainer] Jason Smith’s stalls later. Apparently, after the Futurity, they talked and Jason agreed to deliver him here at the Congress.”

“Dewey talked to our client, Jerry Robinson, and said, ‘If I take all the money out to buy this horse, Tammi will notice it’s all gone. So, let’s do it like this. Let me borrow the money from you, and then I will give it back to you, so she doesn’t know what’s going on.'”

The plan seemed to work, unbeknownst to Tammi, until she arrived at the Congress and noticed one empty stall in their alleyway. “We got here, and all the stalls were set up, but there was one empty stall up front. I asked what it was for, and Dewey said, ‘You don’t need to worry about it.’ I thought that’s just weird…”

When Jason Smith came walking down the alleyway to deliver Baxter, Tammi was completely surprised and very excited. “I was so excited, because I always like to show studs the best!”

Although Tammi had never shown, let alone really handled, Baxter prior to this morning’s class, she was very pleased with his performance in the pen. “He was such a good boy. Jason came over and worked with me a little bit too.”

Tammi and Baxter were also the Limited division Champions and the Elite Halter Futurity Champions. Reserve Champion in the class was Dillon Groff with JCG Addictive. Third place was Rick Leek with Dejaclu. Fourth was Phillip Wilkerson with Very Cool Indeed. Fifth was Doug Landon with Turn On The Cool.

In Yearling Stallions, Randy Jacobs was at the lead of Best Kept Secrete for owner Robert Eurez to claim the win. Randy has always been a fan of this horse, so he was thrilled when trainer, Don Griffey, asked if he was available to lead the colt at the Congress.

“I’ve always liked him,” Randy says. “I saw him as a baby at Bob’s place when the Headley family still owned him. He just has that prettiness, overall balance, and he looks like a stud horse. I left there thinking I was going to get someone to buy him, and two days later I heard that Bob bought him. I couldn’t be more happy for him. Bob is a great guy. I’ve known him for a long time. He’s had some nice horses, but this is a great one. I’ve known Don Griffey for 20 years at least, and I was tickled to death that they asked me to show him.”

For such a young horse, Best Kept Secrete has had to overcome numerous hurdles during his short career. “This colt won at the Iowa Breeders’ Futurity, and then he got really sick and about died. He spent quite a bit of time at OSU. I saw him earlier this spring, when they were first trying to bring him back, and he still looked like death warmed over. To come back the way he has… Don has done one helluva job.”

The Reserve Champion in the class was Tom Robertson with FG Unforgettable for Ted Lincoln. Third place was Dewey Smith with Obviously Preplanned for JL Robinson.

Ross Roark was at the lead of I Am Relentless to win 2-Year-Old Stallions for owner Lea Ann Koch. The Reserve Champion and Limited division Champion was Andy Staton with BPF Classy Kid for owner, Robin Robinett. Third place was Doug Landon with Dynamik for Brenda Shipley.

In 3-Year-Old Stallions, Luke Castle came out on top with Fearles Fortune for William and Felisha Ware. The Reserve and Limited Champion was Dave Williamson with Angels Package for Pamela Bucklew-Wilder. Third place was Billy Springer with Hy Fa Lootin for Beth Dunlap.

In Performance Halter Stallions, Todd Grant led Inspirado to a unanimous win for owner, Angie Watts-Schmeck. The Reserve Champion was Jason Smith with Certainly A Vision for Jamie Oakley. Third was Ross Roark with What Matters Most for Marcie Budine.

Finally, the winner of Aged Stallions and the Grand Champion Stallion for the day was PF Premo, led by Dewey Smith for JL Robinson Quarter Horses. PF Premo is not only a six-time AQHA World Champion and two-time Reserve World Champion, he has been named Grand Champion Stallion at the Quarter Horse Congress four times, and he’s just five years old.

Dewey has been a part of Premo’s life since the very beginning. “We foaled him out at Chester and Ann Prince’s and they raised him. He’s been with us every step of the way, until we sold him to Bushy Park, and that’s the only time that he hasn’t been in my barn.”

“When he hit the ground and stood up, (most babies would be wobbling all over the place) but he stood up, picked his head up, and pricked his ears forward. I told Tammy, ‘That one is special. I’ve never seen one like that before.'”

Premo is just getting started in his breeding career and has only two foals crops on the ground, but he’s already produced two Futurity Champions. “He’s the sire of the yearling stud that won at the Breeders’ Halter Futurity and was WCHA Grand at the Futurity. In his foal crop this year, he has a baby that won the WCHA Junior Stallions. He’s so conformationally and structurally correct, and he’s passing that along to his babies.”

Dewey has always been a big fan of this special stud, but he still laughs about the conversation he had with current owner, Jerry Robinson, when the decision came to make the big purchase. “Jerry was a customer of ours for five years, when we were with Chester and Ann Prince. When Bushy Park decided they were going to do some selling, Jerry called and said, ‘We’re going to buy that horse.’ I said, ‘Jerry, that’s a large investment.’ He said, ‘I do large investments a lot.’ He made the call and cut the deal himself!