Cool N Hot and Kobie Wood won the day and the first go-round of the Metallic Cat NCHA Summer Spectacular Classic Challenge with 224 points on Saturday, the second day of the 24-day Summer Spectacular. Second Spot and Lloyd Cox marked 223 points, the second-highest score of the go-round, while Cox and Blackish claimed 222 points, the third-highest score, which tied Friday’s high-scoring horses Reystylin Smooth, shown by Adan Banuelos, and Sundance Jessie, under John Mitchell.
Five-year-old Cool N Hot LTE $320,143, sired by Hottish and bred and owned by Paula and Kobie Wood, Stephenville, Tex., made his limited age event finals debut with a fifth-place finish in the 2017 NCHA Non-Pro Futurity under Paula Wood. At four, he won four major Open limited age event championships, including the NCHA Super Stakes with Kobie, and earned the title of 2018 NCHA Open Horse of the Year. So far this year, Cool N Hot and Wood have been Open finalists in three major events, and Paula Wood showed the chestnut stallion to win the Abilene Spectacular Non-Pro 5/6 Classic championship.
Six-year-old Second Spot LTE $401,441, sired by Spots Hot and bred and owned by Gary and Shannon Barker, Madill, Okla., won the 2016 NCHA Open Futurity under Matt Gaines. As a late 4-year-old she was reserve champion of the Cotton Stakes with Lloyd Cox, and the pair came back in 2018 to earn money in the Open Finals of seven major events, including the reserve championship of the PCCHA Futurity 5/6 Classic and reserve of the West Texas Futurity 5/6 Classic. Earlier this year, Second Spot and Cox won the Ike Hamilton Futurity 5/6 Classic, as well as the Non-Pro Cutting’s Open 5/6 Classic, and they also claimed reserve in the NCHA Super Stakes Classic.
Five-year-old Blackish LTE $127,322, sired by Hottish and bred and owned by Julie Jarma, Whitesboro, Tex., counts her richest wins as the 2018 Ike Hamilton Futurity and the 2018 Cattlemen’s Derby, both under Lloyd Cox. This year, Cox has shown the brown mare as a finalist in four major events, including as reserve champion of the Ike Hamilton Futurity 5/6 Classic.
Lloyd Cox, an all-time top 10 leading money earner of $8,979,299, won the 2012 NCHA Derby riding Blackish’s sire Hottish.