Will Bushaw, 12, Weatherford, Tex., scored 224 points showing Velvets Revolver on Friday, July 26 to win the 2019 NCHA Foundation Junior Youth Scholarship Cutting, during the Metallic Cat NCHA Summer Spectacular. Cody Gann, 12, Leighton, Ala., scored 218 points on Hevvy Metal to earn the reserve championship, while Brody Magby, 13, Wilburton, Okla., placed third with 217.5 points on One Sneaky Bluegrass.
Will Bushaw was a Junior Youth Scholarship finalist last year showing Velvets Revolver, and he placed in the 2018 NYCHA World Finals with Smooth As A Twist. Will is also the NCHA earner of $62,519 and a three-time NCHA Futurity Amateur Finalist.
Following the Scholarship Cutting, he placed third in the Holy Cow Performance Horses Youth World Finals to finish the season in seventh place in the World Standings.
Seven-year-old Velvets Revolver LTE $270,604, by WR This Cats Smart, belongs to Crown Ranch, Weatherford, Tex., which is owned by Will’s parents, Chad and Amie Bushaw. She was trained by James Payne and shown successfully in Open and Non-Pro 4 and 5-year-old competition by James and his wife Nadine. In 2018, Chad Bushaw and Will’s brother, Charles Russell, won both the Cotton Stakes Non-Pro and Amateur championships, respectively, on Velvets Revolver.
The best was yet to come for Junior Youth Scholarship Cutting reserve champion Cody Gann, who showed Hevvy Metal later on Friday to win the third go-round with 220 points and claim the Junior Youth World Finals with the top score of 659.5 points, and a winning 18 points for the title. Cody also wrapped up the NYCHA Junior Youth World Championship.
This was Cody’s third year to qualify for the Junior Youth Scholarship Cutting. In 2017, he showed Hes A Heapingspoonful to place ninth, and in 2018 he placed fifth with My Pepto Jewels. Nine-year-old Hevvy Metal LTE $153,134, by Metallic Cat, was trained by Jody Galyean and shown by Galyean and Cody’s father, Todd Gann, in Open limited age competition.
Thirteen-year-old Brody Magby qualified for her first NCHA Scholarship Cutting Finals in 2015, when she was nine, riding Checkers Live Oak. She placed third in the Finals in 2017 with Little Moria Kittens, and seventh last year on One Sneaky Bluegrass. Sired by Bluegrass Cat, 6-year-old One Sneaky Bluegrass LTE $121,728 is owned by Browne Enterprises, Wilburton, Okla., and was shown last week by Eric Magby, to place fourth in both the NCHA Classic Challenge Open Finals and the Open Limited Finals.