By qualifying for the finals of the Pacific Coast Cutting Horse Stakes in Paso Robles, California yesterday, NCHA Derby champion LHR Smooth Jamie May looks to have a lock on the Horse of the Year title, although results will not be made official by NCHA until the conclusion of the show.

The race has gone down to the wire, with the top three contenders traveling to Calgary, and then to the Pacific Coast show in their bid for the crown.

Dont Look Twice was eliminated in the first round of the Pacific Coast’s 5/6-year-old division, which took her out of the race. Third Cutting won the 5/6 finals with a score of 231, and could still tie LHR Smooth Jamie May on points, but even so, Jamie May would prevail in the tie-breaker: by having earned more money than Third Cutting at the relevant shows in 2010.

Bred by Tommy Manion Inc., and owned by Sherry Chamberlin’s South LHR Ranch, LHR Smooth Jamie May is ridden by Phil Hanson. The 4-year-old mare is by Smooth As A Cat out of Just Scarlet, by Smart Lil Ricochet, and has NCHA lifetime earnings of $226,557.

Besides the NCHA Derby, she has won at the Breeders Invitational, the Bonanza and the Fort Klamath Ranch Festival. She was reserve champion at Calgary, and has been a finalist at the Super Stakes, Arbuckle Mountain, Brazos Bash, West Texas and El Rancho – all shows that count in the NCHA Horse of the Year final tally.

Five-year-old Third Cutting, shown by Boyd Rice for Carl and Shawnea Smith, has official NCHA earnings of $419,725; 5-year-old Dont Look Twice, ridden by Phil Rapp for Waco Bend Ranch, has NCHA earninngs of $402,557.