Barney Ross, shown by Sam Shepard for Austin and Stacie Shepard, scored 219.5 points Tuesday, to top the third and last day of Open first go-round competition, in the 2019 NCHA Kit Kat Sugar Super Stakes. Louellas Tomcat, shown on Monday by T.J. Good, was the go-round winner with 221.5 points and leads 160 qualifiers, with 214 points of more, into the second go-round, beginning Wednesday and concluding on Thursday.

Barney Ross, by Bamacat, was bred by Darrell Copeland out of Haidandsmoke LTE $47,741, who was shown by Copeland in amateur classes and by Sam Shepard in open. Barney Ross $28,169, trained by Shepard, was shown by his grandson, Cade, as a finalist in the NCHA Non-Pro Futurity. Sam was reserve champion of the Augusta Futurity on the horse, and Cade finished eighth in the Non-Pro division. 

Austin Shepard, Cade’s father and the breeder of Bamacat, also qualified for the Super Stakes Open second go-round with 219 points on the Bamacat son Bama Jelly, owned and bred by Madalyn Colgrove, Boligee, Ala., as well as with 215 points on the Thomas E Hughes son Hammer Hughes, owned by Joel Colgrove. So far this year, NCHA Futurity finalists Bama Jelly LTE $76,183 and Austin Shepard have claimed championship wins in the Arbuckle Mountain Futurity and the Augusta Futurity.

Five other horses shown on Friday, in addition to Bama Jelly also qualified for the second go-round with 219 points, including Smoothies Starlight, owned by Alan Chappell, Collinsville, Tex., and shown by T.J. Good, who was the first go-round leader on Louellas Tomcat. Smoothies Starlight, by Smooth As A Cat, was bred by Dottie St. Clair Hill, out of Nurse Gray, the dam of NCHA earners of $682,376.

Badboonarising and Dressedin Smartstyle both earned 219 points on Friday under Adan Banuelos, who showed Badboonarising LTE $173,591, sired by Once In A Blu Boon and owned by Plantation Farms Denham Springs, La., as reserve champion of the NCHA Futurity.

Dressedin Smartstyle LTE $48,111, bred by Double Dove Ranch and owned by Brumbaugh Ranches, Aledo, Tex., is by Dual Smart Rey and out of Stylish Play Lena LTE $264,474, dam of the earners of $1.9 million. Banuelos showed Dressedin Smartstyle to place tenth in the NCHA Futurity, and also placed him as a finalist in the 2019 Bonanza Derby.

Austin Shepard showed Bayou Creedence Cat for owner and breeder Billy Emerson, Addison, Tex., to place eighth in the Augusta Futurity. On Friday, Shannon Hall was aboard the High Brow Cat daughter to score 219 points and qualify for the Super Stakes second go-round. It was Hall who showed Duals Play Kit LTE $235,489, Bayou Creedence Cat’s maternal granddam, as a finalist in the 2004 NCHA Super Stakes and the 2005 Super Stakes Classic.

Redhead From Denver, by Metallic Cat, collected checks as an Open Limited, Non-Pro, and Non-Pro Limited finalist in the 2018 NCHA Futurity for owners Brett and Jody McGlothlin, Perrin, Tex. On Friday, the red roan mare, also an Augusta Futurity Open and Non-Pro finalist for the McGlothlins, scored 219 points with Brett to secure a berth in the Open second go-round. In addition, the McGlothins, with Brett in the saddle, also qualified for the second round with 217.5 points on Sugar Railena, by Kit Kat Sugar.