2014 NCHA Futurity Recap- $3.8+ Million Awarded in Total Payouts

Fort Worth, Texas, Dec. 15, 2014 –

On Dec. 13 the 2014 NCHA World Championship Futurity, which welcomes the top 3-year-old cutting horse from around the World in making their big debut, came to a close crowning numerous Champions and granting more than $3.8 million in total payouts.

Phil Hanson of Weatherford, Texas, rode Classy CD Cat to an explosive 228-point run to secure the Open Championship and the $200,000-winner’s check. Classy CD Cat is a mare by High Brow Cat out of Classical CD, and is owned by Bobby and Dottie Hill of Glen Rose, Texas. Prizes for the Open Champion also included a M.L. Leddy’s Custom Saddle, Jim Reno bronze trophy, Rios of Mercedes boots, a leather recliner from Brumbaugh’s, a Gist gold buckle and much more. The Open class saw nearly 600 entries walk to the herd during the 22-day event and paid out a total of more than $2 million.

In the Non-Pro, Nadine Payne of Overbrook, Okla., rode Great Expectations, by Third Cutting out of Miss Biscalena, to a 219 for the Championship and a check for $43,094. In the John Deere Open, Chris Hanson picked up a $22,204-check for topping the competition with a score of 220 on Metallic Mandy, owned by John and Hope Mitchell. Other Champions included Blakely Colgrove, Boligee, Ala., who rode Paradox Cat to the Rios of Mercedes Amateur win with a 222 just a few days before her grandfather, Joel Colgrove, also of Alabama, piloted his horse, One Catty Cupid to the Unlimited Amateur title. The Limited Non-Pro paid Ryder Carpenter of Silverton, Texas, $9,435 for his 225-point win aboard Smooth Miss Trona.

NCHA World Finals

In the NCHA World Finals, which is run separately in the Watt Arena during the NCHA Futurity, and welcomes the top 15 competitors from 10 classes that compete in weekend, or any aged-events, crowned numerous World Champions on Dec. 6 as the year-end finals concluded. Chubby Turner claimed his second NCHA Open World title aboard One Time Choice, owned by J5 Horse Management. In the Non-Pro, Constance Jaeggi, owner of J5 Horse Management also reaped success when she secured the Non-Pro title above her gelding Saguaro Ichi, which was also named NCHA Non-Pro Horse of the Year.

This year’s NCHA Futurity’s schedule boasted an array of activities and parties with plenty to do for spectators and competitors alike. A hot topic this year were the record-breaking NCHA Futurity Sales that saw an average of $27,696, which was a 23 percent increase over last year’s auction. The high-selling horse also broke a record for a 2-year-old when Eight Mile, consigned by Crown Ranch, Weatherford, Texas, garnered a $400,000 bid from Daniel and Nancy Burkes, Hibbing, Minn. The colt, by Metallic Cat, is out of the great mare Cappuccino And Pasta, also owned by Crown Ranch.

Special Events

Other highlights included the Celebrity Cutting which presented stars such as Tanya Tucker, Lyle Lovett, Jay Noveck and others as they teamed up to compete and raise money for the Careity Foundation on Dec. 5 in the Will Rogers Coliseum. Also on the line-up was Amanda Stevens, a cancer patient and mother of two whose life was saved by Careity who stepped up while Stevens awaited insurance approvals and helped her receive a new cutting edge regimen of drugs. The tumor shrank to an operable size within months and Dr. Amy Gunter, who is also an annual participant in the Celebrity Cutting, was able to remove it.

Just one week later, another cancer patient Emily Crews, 17, rode to the herd in the Will Rogers Coliseum. Crews, who was diagnosed with brain cancer at the age of 15, had a wish to ride a cutting horse. Through a partnership with Quarter Horse News and Western Wishes, the NCHA facilitated in granting the young girl’s wish. Crews delivered an impeccable performance following the last horse in the first set of the Open finals aboard a horse provided by David and Stacie McDavid under the guidance of NCHA Hall of Fame Rider Clint Allen. Her ride was followed by a live auction of a one-of-a-kind signed print of Crews’ artwork that brought $37,000 from Bobby and Rosemary Atwood of Weatherford with the proceeds to benefit the Crews family and Western Wishes.

Other activities that took place during this year’s Futurity were meet and greets with several famous cutting horses in the Best of the West Trade Show, a Paws For a Cause dog adoption, the World Finals Party, and the Champions Cup party that finalized the show. Total, the event, which offered more than $1 million in added money, catered to 1,353 entries and welcomed spectators from around the World.