High Brow Jackson and Monty Buntin locked down the John Deere Limited Open division of the Super Stakes on Saturday, with a 222-point win. Wicked Wanda Rey and Nate Lansford were reserve with 219 points.
It was just Buntin’s second time to show in Fort Worth. Last December, the 21-year-old rider, who shows for Scott Gaddy, Clements, Calif., claimed the NCHA Futurity Limited reserve title with High Brow Jackson, and placed fifth in the Open finals.
“Gavin Jordan gave me a pep talk before we went down there last night, said Buntin. “He told me that you don’t get very many opportunities in this building for a shot at winning, and this was my shot.
“So that was my philosophy and we went for it as much as we could with the cows that we cut.
“I was sticking him out there where he doesn’t even really want to go, but he makes the job easy because he has an eerie intelligence about cattle and he just doesn’t make mistakes.”
Gaddy purchased High Brow Jackson, by High Brow Cat, for $40,000 as yearling; put him in training with Hayden Upton; then consigned the colt to the NCHA Futurity 2-Year-old Sale, where the bidding went to $315,000, just short of Gaddy’s reserve.
“It was a hard decision,” said Gaddy, referring to his decision to stick with his reserve. “But he was a really good prospect, so we ended up keeping him and I’m thrilled that we did.”
“People tell me he’s once-in-a-lifetime horse,” said Buntin, who got his start at age 13, working for Salvador Cabral. “I hope they’re wrong, but he is sure is special.
“He understands everything and never gets confused. You can’t train that intelligence into a horse, but Hayden Upton taught him how to learn, and his success is a tribute to the foundation that Hayden gave him.”
High Brow Jackson and Buntin also qualified, with a cumulative score of 431 points, for the Open Semi-Finals on Friday, April 19. Their next stop is the Breeders Invitational, beginning May 11 in Tulsa, Okla.
Wicked Wanda Rey, owned by Gary Rosenbach’s Rose Valley Ranch, Weatherford, Tex., made her debut as a semi-finalist in the NCHA Futurity under Michael Cooper. But it was Cooper’s assistant, Nate Lansford, showing the Dual Rey daughter for the first time, who claimed the Super Stakes Limited reserve title.
“I couldn’t have asked her to do anything more,” said Lansford, who placed fourth in last year’s event, on Nu Pepto Wood.
“She’s cow smart and a big stopper and she tries to be there for you every time. She let me ride her tonight and did everything that I asked her. She held three bad cows and was spot on everywhere.”
Last weekend, Rosenbach won the Amateur Super Stakes on Scooters Daisy Mae and was reserve champion of the Amateur Classic on Tapt Out.