Equine Chronicle Masters Wins Go To Trisha Yamber/My Invitations R Hot and Jay Starnes/The Lopin Machine

By: Brittany Bevis

The mane event of the 2014 All American Quarter Horse Congress kicked off with a bang at 7 o’clock this evening hosting the most talented group of maiden two-year-old Hunter Under Saddle and Western Pleasure horses in the country. First up in The Equine Chronicle Masters 2-Year-Old Hunter Under Saddle, nine entries tried their best to claim the $25,000 payday that would be awarded to the Congress Champion.

It was a prior champion, Trisha Yamber, that took the top spot aboard My Invitations R Hot for proud owner/breeder Adria Smith of Seaside Farm. The Reserve Champion was Dawn Baker with Kizz My Irons for LT and Joanne Taylor. Third place was Allison Clark with Good Escape for Carl Yamber. Fourth place was Beth Case with Nuthin Better To Do. Fifth place was Alyse Roberts with Its Hot In Africa for Cathy Corrigan Frank.

“Carson” is an enormous two-year-old by These Irons Are Hot and out of a mare named That’s My Invitation. From that very first day when he was foaled out at Gumz Farms, owner and breeder Adria Smith knew she had something special.

“He was special from day one, and you can tell he has the most laid back attitude,” Smith says. “His ride was beautiful, and I was in tears. My [late] mom had bought that mare for her investment, and she named him, so it’s kind of special.”

Yamber echoed Smith’s praise citing Carson’s calm demeanor and consistency as two of the factors that helped lead to tonight’s win.

“He never had a nervous bone in his body,” Yamber says. “He let me do whatever I wanted to do. They kept telling me to go faster, but I was like, ‘Really? This is so fun!'”

When Yamber initially met Carson, one of the first things she noticed was his imposing size. That was one of the reasons why Yamber and Smith kept him to be a Masters horse for this year’s Congress.

“The only thing that scared me was that he was growing so fast at such a young age that he was bouncing in his knees,” she says. “I told her we needed to take this one slow. From day one, he hung his neck so soft and so level; and that’s the main key to this class, consistency and softness in the neck. He’s got a great personality and a soft eye. He is a pet.”

When it came time to take a brief break in between the Equine Chronicle Masters 2-Year-Old Hunter Under Saddle and Equine Chronicle Masters 2-Year-Old Western Pleasure, the floor was given over to a special stallion for a once-in-a-lifetime presentation. This evening, Invitation Only was officially presented with the honor of being named AQHA’s newest No. 1 All Time Leading Sire of AQHA points, a designation that was achieved on October 14th, 2014.

Since 1996, Zippo Pine Bar had held the coveted position. That all changed when Invitation Only’s get amassed 77,064 points and pulled into the lead. This evening, Roger Landis and Debbi Trubee of Pineview Farms joined a host of fans and influential members of the horse industry to celebrate this accomplishment. The word around the Press Office is that some people drove three hours just to see Invitation Only in person.

According to AQHA, as of October 14th, Invitation Only has 1,251 foals registered in 21 crops with 695 point earners that have earned 1,109 Registers of Merit, 33 World Championships, 36 Reserve World Championships, eight year-end High-Point titles, $406,764 at the AQHA World Show, and $2,417,929 in NSBA earnings.

Up next, the defending champion trainer/owner duo from last year, Jay Starnes and Rawlings Enterprises, scored another win with The Lopin Machine. The pair received a whopping $50,000 check for their efforts.The Reserve Champion was Gil Galyean with Fired Up Potential for Michelle and Sheila Bauer. Third place was Brian Cox with RR Magical Moonlite for Jamie Watson. Fourth place was Randy Wilson with Ona Good Cowboy for Wes and Jan Pittman and Stanley and Susan Scott. Fifth place was Ty Hornick with Lazy Holla Dayz for Shawn Johnson.

 

Starnes describes “Clyde” as having been very easygoing right from the start. “He’s talented, and he’s real fun to show,” Starnes says. “He was very good tonight. [My first impression was] he was so big and stout, and he looked like a three-year-old when we were just breaking two-year-olds. He had the talent and the looks, so I felt like he was the pick to have, if he would train, and he started coming along really good.”

A big congratulations goes to the winners of tonight’s Equine Chronicle Masters classes!

Equine Chronicle Masters 2-Year-Old Hunter Under Saddle-

1- My Invitations R Hot/Trisha Yamber- $25,000

2-Kizz My Irons/Dawn Baker- $8,000

3-Good Escape/Allison Clark- $6,000

4-Nuthin Better To Do/Beth Case- $4,000

5-It’s Hot In Africa/Alyse Roberts- $2,000

6-The Perfect One/Keith Miller

7-Hoos Hotter Than Me/Nikkole Riddle

8-Stellar Irons/Nicole Giumenti

9-Expecting A Payday/Nicole Robosson

Equine Chronicle Masters 2-Year-Old Western Pleasure-

1-The Lopin Machine/Jay Starnes- $50,000

2-Fired Up Potential/Gil Galyean- $9,350

3-RR Magical Moonlite/Brian Cox- $7,425

4-Ona Good Cowboy/Randy Wilson $5,500

5-Lazy Holla Dayz/Ty Hornick- $2,750

6-Certainly Kissed/Karen Hornick- $2,475

7-Machine Gun Sue/Rusty Green

8-Born A Lopin Machine/Shane Dowdy

9-Beckys Dream/Pat Heeley

10-HP Only Lazy/Darren Putnam

11-Busted For Lopenlazy/Jim Chafin