Ettafied, ridden by Gabe Reynolds, scored 223 points Wednesday to win the $5,000 Novice championship at the 6666 Ranch NCHA Eastern National Championships in Jackson, Miss. Ichin In The Reyn, shown by Dusty Nelsen, scored 217.5 points for the reserve championship, and Catareycious placed third with 217 points under Ryan Moore.
Ettafied LTE $20,000, a 6-year-old High Brow CD gelding, owned by Lisa and Jamie Johnson of Benson, N.C., had scored 218 points on Tuesday to win the $5,000 Novice go-round and was also a finalist in the $25,000 Novice division.
Bred by Glenn and Debbie Drake, Ettafied is out of the Travalena daughter Travs Foxetta, who is out of Stylish And Foxie LTE $303,000, producer of the earners of $756,463, including Peptos Stylish Miss LTE $296,005 and Miss Stylish Pepto $216,005. This past January, Ettafied was an Open finalist with Reynolds and an Unlimited Amateur finalist with Lisa Johnson at the Augusta Futurity Classic.
Ichin In The Reyn, a 6-year-old gelding sired by Cat Ichi, is owned by his breeder EE Ranches, Whitesboro, Tex., who also bred and owns Cat Ichi, sire of NCHA earners of over $5.6 million. EE Ranches, a leading owner of NCHA Eastern Nationals champions, also bred and owns Ichi La Roo, by Cat Ichi, who Guy Woods showed to mark 219 points, the second-highest score, on Wednesday in the Open go-round.
Woods also showed EE Ranches’ 5-year-old gelding Laneys Gotta Player, by Lizzys Gotta Player, to place third in the $25,000 Novice Finals, and was a finalist in the same event with Ichi Sangria, by Cat Ichi, while EE Ranches’ Lizzys Gotta Player daughter Lizzys Gotta Ichi placed sixth in the $25,000 Novice Finals with Dusty Nelsen.
Catareycious, owned by Larry and Carol Grimes, Thayer, Mo., came into the $5,000 Novice Finals following a fourth-place finish with Moore on Tuesday in the $25,000 Novice Finals. Moore and the 6-year-old Halreycious gelding won the 2016 Breeders Invitational 4-Year-Old Limited Open and also placed in the Open Limited Finals of the 2015 NCHA Futurity and the 2016 NCHA Super Stakes. The duo placed eighth in the 2017 NCHA $25,000 Novice World standings, as well.