Spinning and Sliding in Sin City at 2014 High Roller Reining Classic

By: Alden Corrigan for HRRC, Inc.

The third and final show in the Triple Crown of Reining series that includes the Cactus Reining Classic in Scottsdale, Arizona and Reining By The Bay in Woodside, California, the High Roller Reining Classic, held at the South Point Arena and Equestrian Center in Las Vegas, Nevada did not disappoint. This unique venue boasts a hotel, casino, three indoor rings and 1,200 climate controlled stalls all under one roof with unparalleled multimedia outlets employed to promote the event, including in-room television coverage. iEquine hosted live webcast viewership which exceeded 165,000 page views, and live webcast clicks to sponsor sites were over 7,000.

Since 2008, top horses and riders across the country and around the world have come to Las Vegas for this one-of-a-kind show. All the exhibitors in this year’s show showed their skill, determination, and passion for the sport, from top professionals and the 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games participants to junior riders and first-time competitors.

The breadth and depth of talent in all divisions was exceptional. A number of 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games participants, including the entire United States Reining team, as well as riders from Team Austria, Team Australia and Team Canada and previous WEG team and individual riders was staggering. The 2014 WEG team and individual riders in attendance were celebrated with a reception and autograph signing immediately following the West Coast Breeder’s Select Sale held on the second Saturday of the event.

Ranked number four in the NRHA’s Leading Events with over $500,000 in added money and prizes, the 2014 HRRC highlights included: the $85,000 Added Lucas Oil Open Derby, $45,000 Added Protect The Harvest No Pro Derby, the $110,000 Added High Roller Reining Classic Futurity, $100,000 Added Whizkey N Diamonds Open 4 Year Old Stakes, $75,000 Added Arabian Breeders Classic (ARBC), $13,000 Added SmartPak 7 Up Maturity, the American Paint Horse Association (APHA) Aged and Ancillary Class Incentives and the Trifecta Non Pro Challenge trip to the Four Seasons, Punta Mita, Mexico.

Highlights from the Non Pro Divisions:

Protect The Harvest Non Pro Derby Level 4 Finals

2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games team gold and individual bronze medalist Mandy McCutcheon and McQuay Stables’ Check This Nicadual (Mister Nicadual x Check Your Gun Lady) marked a 216 to take home the championship title from the field of 27 finalists and earned $7,090.90 in the Protect The Harvest Non Pro Derby Level 4 Finals and a paycheck of $4,207.50 as Reserve Champion in the Whizkey N Diamonds Non Pro Level 4 Stakes Finals.

“I made all the finals on Check This Nicadual,” Mandy McCutcheon says. “Jerry Kimmel raised him, owned his mother (Check Your Gun Lady), and now Loren Booth owns his mother who was both a NRHA Futurity and Derby finalist. Also, he’s by Mister Nicadual who stands at my dad’s. It’s fun, when you do the breeding programs that we do, to be successful like that. It’s so fun to see the sparkle in Jerry Kimmel’s eye. He’s so genuinely excited for everyone and the sport that it makes you feel really good.”

Whizkey N Diamonds Non Pro Level 4 Stakes Finals Champion

It was Ms Whiz Dunit (Topsail Whiz x A Bueno Poco Dunit) and Mandy McCutcheon marking a 217 to claim a check for $5,692.50 and the championship out of a field of 23 exhibitors. “Ms Whiz Dunit came back to the finals as her normal self,” Mandy McCutcheon says. “During the first round, she wasn’t her normal self, and I was lucky that they took everybody back for the finals. It was probably my fault before the first round; I thought I should change things up and put a little different bridle on her and try to get a little more out of her. I’m not quite sure what I was thinking. I guess I learned a lesson there. I put her back in her same bridle and did things the way I normally do, and she was quite good in the second round. I didn’t get to my first stop quite as good as I could have, but that’s not on her, that’s on me. The rest of the way she was hooked up. She drug her butt huge all three times on the sides and circled good…she was back to her normal self.”

Mandy reflects upon her first World Equestrian Games as a rider for Team USA versus watching her father and her husband from the sidelines. “When I watch Tim or Tom show, it’s more anxiety than I can handle sometimes. Walking in the ring when you’re with a team of people like Andrea Fappani, Jordan Larson, and Shawn Flarida is a whole other ball of wax. I don’t even know how to explain it. When I went to show, Andrea and Jordan had already gone and gotten a 221 and a 224. The Belgium team had a 221 and a 222, and Bernard Fonck was still left to go for the Belgians, and we had Shawn. You don’t want to leave it sitting on your anchor’s shoulders; you want to make it as easy as possible. I was pretty nervous about it. I didn’t want to go there and let all of them down, much less Team USA itself. But, when you’re riding a horse like Yellow Jersey, it’s a whole different ballgame. He’s an unreal show horse. To be 10 years old and shown as much as he’s been shown, and as hard as he’s been shown, he shows like he’s never been shown a day in his life. He was on the bronze medal winning team with the Italians in Kentucky so this was his second WEG.”

The US Team was comprised of three horses who had at one time been shown by one of the other team members: Yellow Jersey, previously shown by Andrea Fappani, Custom Cash Advance, previously shown by Jordan Larson and Fapppani (ridden by Fappani at the WEG) and Spooks Gotta Whiz (ridden by Shawn Flarida at WEG). “Andrea helped me with my rundowns on Yellow Jersey; that was really what I wanted to clean up a little bit between my team round and my individual round. It helped a lot. He came to the party a lot and really hooked up stopping in the individual round.”

The Four Seasons Silicon Valley Trifecta Non Pro Reining Challenge

The coveted year-end prize awarded to the same horse and Non Pro rider combination with the highest earnings from all three Brumley Management Group events went to Cam Essick of Clements, California, courtesy of her homebred Who Loves You (Walla Walla Whiz x Love Em N Lena). The pair banked total earnings of $13,766.04 over the three show series to secure the win. Cam and her husband Jim (aka Too Tall) are headed to the Four Seasons Resort Punta Mita, Mexico. “

I started out with Cactus Reining Classic in March and was tied for Reserve Champion among a group that had Mandy McCutcheon, Kim Muehlstaetter, and Tish Fappani, who are all rock stars. To be in that company to me is just absolutely amazing! We started with a little momentum and maintained our lead at Reining By The Bay. I haven’t been able to ride Who Loves You since then due to my workload, so it was a bit challenging to pick up with five minutes of prep and go out there. My horse was really good and Arno [Honstetter] is a great coach. I didn’t get what I wanted to get done, but we still made money in the Level 4 and Level 3 and were the Prime Time Reserve Champions. All in all, it’s been a great year and I’m really proud of my horse. He’s one that I bred and have ridden for the last couple years. There is so much excitement for me to continue the legacy we have with her dam and her granddam.”

Cam may not have had her sights set on the Four Season Resort at Punta Mita, Mexico, but her husband did from the day the award was announced at the High Roller Reining Classic in 2013. “I know where Punta Mita is and we all know about the Four Seasons; it doesn’t get any better than that. When I heard that she was leading the Trifecta Non Pro Reining Challenge, I was on her constantly. I love it when she wins, but those checks always go to offset all the costs of all the horses we have, because we have many… I thought if we won a trip, we’d actually go on one. Our vacations are normally Fort Worth, Oklahoma City, Reno, or horse shows. I camped out on the beach at Punta Mita in 1981 on a surf trip when there was nothing but one palapa, and I can’t wait to go back.”

Highlights from the Open Divisions:

$5,000 Added SmartPak Open Maturity

2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games Individual rider Troy Heikes on Denise Bixler’s RSD One Hot Deal (Dealin Dirty x No Freckles Please) marked a 218.5 to win the $2788.50 championship check. Heikes, drawing first and last in the order, marked a 217 on Denise Bixler’s Lucky Star Gun (The Gunners x Bonnie Star Brick) setting the stage for the rest of the riders. The lead changed hands several times before he came back in on RSD One Hot Deal and marked a 218.5 to make the win official.

“RSD One Hot Deal and Lucky Star Gun are two of the three horses [all owned by Denise Bixler] that I took to Kentucky for the WEG selection trials,” Heikes says. “Lil Gun Dunit was my highest qualifier so he went to France. I had these two that needed to go horse showing, and we saw that High Roller Reining Classic had the $5,000 Added SmartPak Maturity, so we decided to come and try it. I went in first on Lucky Star Gun, and he showed great. They’re not just giving away scores at this horse show, so I was a little disappointed in the score, for as good as he felt showing. It’s all relative, as the judges were being tight with everyone. When I went in on RSD One Hot Deal, he just gave it his all. He’s just one of those horses that, when the chips are on the table, he just gives it to you. It felt like he had a screaming run, and I couldn’t have been happier with him. He just keeps getting better and better. When he won, I was just tickled for Denise and the horse. He’s just been a trooper.”

This was Heikes’ first WEG experience, and what an experience it was. “The first time it hit me was when we sat down for a press conference in Kentucky and they announced Team USA. I’ve horse showed for 30 years and I have never had that feeling. It just gives me goose bumps. I don’t come from a horse training background, so it’s the first time in 30 years that my family could relate to what I did and to recognize that it is my real job.”

Once in France, Heikes got to see what it really takes to maintain the WEG horses. “Our grooms and Dr. John Newcomb ensured that our horses had the best care imaginable. Once we got to Caen for the competition, it became more real. In the go round, I had two big bobbles, so I had to go in the consolation round. That put the pressure on me, because everyone else on the team had a clean run, and I’m thinking to myself I couldn’t come to France and not make the finals. The team really came together and became like family there. When Mandy [McCutcheon] showed, her father Tim, who has been my hero for years, experienced it all, and has watched his daughter win every accolade there is, had tears streaming down his face. There is just no way to describe what that experience is like. It was life-changing. I turned 50 this year. I chose horse training as a way to make a living because I didn’t have family. I’m a poor kid from Rock Springs, Wyoming and here I am in Normandy France performing for the US team and experiencing these places that I would never have gone and seen if it hadn’t been for horses.”

The Inaugural Arabian Reining Breeders Classic:

The Arabian Reining Breeders Classic is a recently formed group of individuals who have stepped forward in an effort to increase awareness of the development of the Arabian and Half Arabian Reining performance horses. The program is lead by longtime supporter and breeder of Arabian Reining Horses, Dick Ames, who with his daughter Lara have started the ARBC. “We are honored that the ARBC chose the High Roller Reining Classic as the host of the $75,000 Added Arabian and Half Arabian Futurities,” says event promoter Amanda Brumley. “We’re extremely excited about participating in this brand new Futurity for the Arabian Reining horse. It affords the breed a real showcase, so that it can be seen and recognized within the larger reining horse world. It’s a terrific opportunity for us to show everyone what today’s working Western Arabian horse can really do,” says Dick Ames President of the ARBC. The ARBC is offering a $30,000 Added Open Pure Bred Arabian Reining Futurity and a $45,000 Added Open Half Arabian Futurity, which includes Level 1 & 4 NRHA Open Category 2 Divisions.

The Arabian Futurities are for horses that are four and five years of age. The format of the ARBC is very similar to the highly successful and extremely popular NRBC. It is with this program in mind that the ARBC’s goal is to become to the Arabian Reining programs what the NRBC has become to the Quarter Horses and Paint Horse industries.

The $20,000 Added ARBC Purebred Arabian Reining Futurity Open Level 4 and the $30,000 Added ARBC Half Arabian Reining Futurity Open Level 4 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games team gold and individual silver medalist Andrea Fappani dominated the ARBC Futurities winning both the ARBC Purebred Arabian Reining Futurity Open Level 4 on Cotton McNutt’s All Maxed Out RA (HH Maxemus x Marliera) earning $7,712.48 and the ARBC Half Arabian Reining Futurity Open Level 4 on Joe Betten’s SH Imvaguelysurprised (Surprise x Sagehill Karla) earning $9,849.70.

“I thought the ARBC was a great addition to the show. I haven’t been involved for that long as far as showing Arabian Reining horses. I started earlier last year talking to Crystal McNutt and asked her if there was an opportunity for me to get my feet wet in starting to do something with the Arabians. She brought a few of them over and asked me to ride them for a little bit to see which ones I thought I could get along with. It gave me a great opportunity to share some of the horses she had in training. I was lucky enough to do well at the Scottsdale show. Then, she asked me to show a couple of new ones in Las Vegas. All Maxed Out RA, who won the ARBC Arabian Futurity Open Level 4, is the same horse that won in Scottsdale. A good horse is a good horse. SH Imvaguelysurprised, who won in the Half Arabian Futurity, is one that Craig Schmersal was second on in Scottsdale before Crystal bought him. I got along with him from the first time I rode him. Craig did a great job breaking him and getting him to where he is. I was extremely happy that both horses won. I think it’s a good thing for the show. It brought in people we usually don’t see and opened up people’s eyes that there is good money to be won and that there are good breeders who are putting a lot of effort into breeding Arabian Reiners. I think there will be more and more people looking for them. When I won the NRHA Open Futurity Finals on RR Star in 2001, he was the first Paint to achieve that. Maybe we’ll one day we’ll see a half Arabian win it.”

$110,000 Added High Roller Reining Classic Open Futurity

Casey Deary and Antler Ridge Ranch, LLC’s Magnum Starlights (Maagnum Chich Dream x Starlights Sugarwhiz) drew 87 out of 88 horses and had to beat Andrea Fappani’s two horses tied at 218.50 for the win. Not only did the pair mark a 222, but they took home a hefty $13,211.66 in the process, not to mention chalking up their third HRRC futurity win out of four HRRC Futurity starts. The 2012 HRRC Open Futurity winner Americasnextgunmodel and the 2013 HRRC Open Futurity winner both went on to win the Finals in Oklahoma City. Will history repeat itself?

“It’s always fun to go toward the end on a horse as nice as Magnum Starlights,” Deary says. ” This is the third generation on the Starlights Sugarwhiz side that I’ve ridden, so that’s exciting. This colt is super good-minded and takes very little to get ready. When I showed him, he didn’t even break a sweat. He’s got that great Magnum brain that’s easy to get along with, and he’s so naturally round that you never have to worry about putting him in a frame. All I’ve had to do is steer him around. He’s done all the work.”

Magnum Starlights’ owners CW and Benita Roberts bought the colt in December of 2012 based on a phone call from Casey to come look at the colt in the backyard. “This is our first three year old and it’s a great start. We had three generations of our family cheering here in Las Vegas and friends at home watching the live streaming coverage.”

Andrea Fappani tied himself for the Reserve Champion spot by marking a 218.50 on both Raul Leal’s Pinesail Jac (Tinsel Jac x Sailin Lil Ruf) and Rancho Oso Rio LLC’s Whizzen For Chex (Topsail Whiz x Dun It For Chex) taking home identical checks of $7036.65.

“This was the first time out for both horses, and I was really pleased with them.” Fappani says. “Usually, I show in Tulsa before coming to Las Vegas, but I was in France this year. I showed them both one-handed and neither of them disappointed me. I had a couple of green spots on both of them, they weren’t trying to be bad, there were just things I need to work on. I’m a big believer that the pre-futurities are preparation for the big futurity and [you shouldn’t go] just to try to win money. I love them both to death, and I’m really pleased with both of them.”

Fappani describes the WEG experience as something he wasn’t expecting. “I underestimated the magnitude of everything there. I really got to appreciate the whole FEI organization and what a great job they do. I’ve had old friends and family call me from Italy because of the media exposure that the WEG gets. They never even mentioned it when I won two Futurities. We need to really take care of our relationship with the FEI and do the best we can in order to take this sport to the next level.”

Arno Honstetter and Mizzfire (Gunner x West Coast Mizzen) won the High Roller Reining Classic Level 3 Open Futurity, prize money of $10,111.95 and garnered the highest scoring APHA registered horse honors on the Story Book Stables, Inc. entry by marking a 218.

“I got Mizzfire last year at the NRBC from Tom McCutcheon when he was two years old, and he’s been a really nice horse,” Hornstetter says. “I was actually looking for a young horse I could train for Brenda Joyce, the owner. I wasn’t looking for the most athletic horse, but one that was really good minded for her to show. In the beginning, he did everything really cute. Then, he started putting more effort into everything. He’s turned out to be a really cool horse now, and he tries really hard. He rides a lot like the Gunner’s I’ve ridden, but he’s a little bit easier to ride because he can hear. I was really happy with him for his first time in the show pen. He is for sure going to Oklahoma for the NRHA Futurity. I think it’s great that the APHA is honoring the highest scoring Paint Horse. It’s nice to give the owner another form of recognition with the added APHA buckle. We’ve been lucky that a lot of the great horses we’ve [shown] have been Paints.”

The American Paint Horse Association Awards:

The American Paint Horse Association new Paint-specific reining awards program at the 2014 High Roller Reining Classic was extremely well received. The new partnership, created between APHA and the High Roller Reining Classic, features exciting new opportunities for reining Paints. Custom Gist buckles were awarded in both aged events and ancillary classes. In aged events, the buckles will be awarded to the highest-placing registered Paint Horses. In the NRHA Non Pro, Rookie Non Pro, Youth and Open classes, the buckles will go to the High Point Paint that competes in both slates of classes. “The Paint Horse breed is dynamic, versatile and athletic—qualities that go hand-in-hand with the sport of Reining,” APHA Director of Business Development Kalyn Sanders said. “Special thanks to the High Roller Reining Classic for providing a fantastic opportunity to showcase high-achieving Paint Horses and reward these exceptional horses and exhibitors with some extra recognition from APHA. Due to the overwhelming success of this inaugural program, APHA plans to continue providing these Paint-specific awards at additional top reining events in 2015. Be sure to visit our website APHA.com for the official announcement.”

The $85,000 Added Lucas Oil Open Derby and the $100,000 Added Whizkey N Diamonds Open Level 4 Four Year Old Stakes winner Jason Vanlandingham and Vaughn Zimmerman’s 4-year-old Not Ruf At All (A Sparkling Vintage x All Ruffed Up) marked a 224.5 in the $130,000 Lucas Oil Open Derby Level 4 and the $100,000 Added Whizkey N Diamonds Open Level 4 Four Year Old Stakes, which were run concurrently to take home two championship prize money checks of $15,178.16 and $11,904.34 respectively. The duo went midway in the field of 46 total Open Derby Level 4 and Open Stakes Level 4 finalists and their score held up until the bitter end.

“I always figure any draw in the finals is a good one. Everybody told me being draw 21, being in Vegas, is the number you want. As far as talent is concerned, we had the best four-year-olds in the country, and we knew that show was going to be tough. Whizkey N Diamonds Partnership put up so much money that everybody who had a good one brought it. The same is true for the Open Derby. There were some great five and six-year-olds there. I thought it was as deep a pool as you could possibly get. He just keeps getting better. I don’t know if it’s him maturing or me learning how to show him better, or what the situation is, but in the Finals I thought he was really good. I kind of got him into a bad position on the second turn to the left, but his run in stop was great. He probably circled the best he’s ever circled. I really pushed for speed and he gave me everything and came back really good, and of course his three stops were huge.”

For the complete 2014 High Roller Reining Classic results go to: http://www.highrollerreiningclassic.com/event-results