Suen You Will See LTE $139,986, shown by Steve Oehlhof, scored 224 points on Friday to top a go-round field of 40 horses and qualify for Saturday’s 12-horse Houston Mercuria NCHA World Series of Cutting Open Finals. Lil Rattler LTE $331,922, under Wesley Galyean, and Wood U N Me Baby LTE $112,533, with Matt Gaines, finished second and third with scores of 223 and 221, respectively.
Owned by Ken Sitton, Freeport, Tex., 6-year-old Suen You Will See, by Boon Too Suen, most recently an Augusta Futurity 5/6-Year-Old Open finalist with Oehlhof, was the 2016 Southern Futurity 5/6-Year-Old Open champion and West Texas 5/6-Year-Old Open reserve champion.
Steve Oehlhof is an NCHA Hall of Fame rider with lifetime earnings of $1,416,506.
Lil Rattler LTE $331,922, shown by Wesley Galyean, has won or placed in 25 major NCHA open and/or non-pro finals. The 8-year-old Dual Rey daughter, out of 2005 NCHA Futurity champion Highbrow Supercat, was non-pro champion of the 2014 and the 2015 NCHA Super Stakes 5/6 Classic with her owner, Steven Feiner, Aspen, Colo.
Wesley Galyean, an NCHA Hall of Fame Rider and lifetime earner of $3.5 million, won the 2004 NCHA Futurity on Spots Hot and the 2013 NCHA Super Stakes aboard Hes A Hot Cat.
Six-year-old Wood U N Me Baby LTE $112,533, shown by Matt Gaines and sired by Nitas Wood, is a full sister to Woodys Baby, a finalist in Saturday’s Mercuria NCHA World Series Non-Pro Finals with April Widman. Wood U N Me Baby is owned by Bobbie Kay Davis, Templeton, Calif.
Matt Gaines, an NCHA Hall of Fame Rider with lifetime earnings of $7.9 million, has six previous Mercuria NCHA World Series wins and most recently claimed the 2016 NCHA Futurity Open championship riding Second Spot.
Three of tonight’s open finalists also qualified for the Non-Pro Finals. Cool Cat Dual Rey LTE $167,354, will be shown in the Non-Pro by Marley Wood, Stephenville, Tex., and in the Open by Marley’s father, Kobie Wood; Twistful Thinking LTE $240,587, will be shown in the Non-Pro by Cade Shepard, Summerdale, Ala., and in the Open by Cade’s father, Austin Shepard; and Let Georgie Do It LTE $123,991, will be shown in the Non-Pro by John Rockey, Palmdale, Calif., and in the Open by Kody Porterfield.
Austin Shepard and Phil Rapp were the only rider’s to each qualify with two horses for the Open Finals. In addition to Twistful Thinking, Shepard also qualified Deluxe Checks LTE $129,279, owned by Amanda Standish, Baton Rouge, La. Rapp, with nine previous Mercuria wins, qualified with Reyzin $402,035, last year’s Mercuria NCHA World Finals champion, owned by Gale Force QHs, Conway, S.C., and with his own horse, Dont Stopp Believin LTE $213,931.
Non-Pro Finalists
Texas A&M student Marley Wood marked 222.5 points to top 42 contenders in the Non-Pro go-round, where seven riders earned scores of 220 or higher and 15 advanced to the Saturday’s Non-Pro Finals.
Marley Wood’s mount, Cool Cat Dual Rey LTE $167,354, reflects the horsepower of the final’s field, with earners of over $2.4 million, including Pepto Boom LTE $288,202, shown by Marley’s sister, Lane. Marley and Lane’s father, five-time NCHA world champion Kobie Wood, also qualified Cool Cat Dual Rey for Saturday’s Houston Mercuria NCHA World Series of Cutting Open Finals.
Cool Cat Dual Rey, by Dual Rey, was bred by Marley and Lane’s mother, Paula Wood, and is half-brother to Donas Suen Boon, who carried Paula to win the 2012 NCHA Futurity Non-Pro championship.
Lauren Middleton, Weatherford, Tex., placed second to Marley Wood in the go-round with 222 points on Sweet Reyvenge LTE $98,997. An NCHA Hall of Fame Non-Pro Rider with lifetime earnings of $576,997, Middleton won the 2010 and 2011 Mercuria Congress NCHA World Series on Cees Little Poo.
April Widman, Weatherford, Tex., and Judy Rogers, Rockdale, Tex., tied for third with 221 points in the go-round. Widman rode the Nitas Wood gelding Woodys Baby LTE $255,163, who carried her to the 2016 NCHA World Non-Pro Reserve Championship, as well as reserve in last year’s West Texas Futurity Non-Pro NCHA Mercuria World Series.
Rogers and Spoonfulla Cat LTE $221,624, by Hes A Peptospoonful, claimed the reserve champion title in the 2016 Mercuria NCHA Non-Pro NCHA World Finals. Rogers is also a two-time NCHA Classic Challenge Non-Pro Limited champion.