Rachel Patton, Fort Worth, Tex., scored 216 points to become 2020 NCHA Metallic Cat Derby Ltd. Amateur champion, riding Cinca Metallic, by Metallic Cat. Jim See, New Braunfels, Tex., on Smart Stella Rey, by Dual Smart Rey;  Aaron Cook, Alvarado, Tex., on Kit Kat Stix, by Kit Kat Sugar; and Ezequiel Bustamante, Valley View, Tex., on Reina Smart, by Sigala Rey, all tied for third with scores of 215 points.

Her winning ride in the NCHA Derby Ltd. Amateur was just Rachel Patton’s third time to ever show. She had shown Metallic Curveball, Cinca Metallic’s full brother, and Summer Shandy LTE $79,929, by Metallic Cat, as a finalist in the NCHA Classic Challenge Amateur Limited Finals earlier in the week, and she was confident in her horses and her help, including Jesse Lennox, who had trained Cinca Metallic LTE $28,250 and Metallic Curveball LTE $173,169, as well as Cinca Im Hot LTE $259,169, their half-sister by Spots Hot. The three siblings are out of Dual Rey daughter Cinca De Maya LTE $106,341, a full sister to to Lil Rattler LTE $338,873 and Button Down Supercat LTE $285,048, among 22 money earners of $1.5 million out of 2005 NCHA Futurity champion and leading producer Highbrow Supercat LTE $364,690.

Jim See, the NCHA earner of $16,227, had previously been a 2010 NCHA Derby Amateur finalist riding Mecoms Gloacre, by Mecom Blue, and a 2015 PCCHA Derby Amateur finalist on Smooth D Rey, by Smooth As A Cat. His 2020 NCHA Derby mount, Smart Stella Rey LTE $23,929, by Dual Smart Rey, had been shown in limited-age Non-Pro competition, including as an NCHA Futurity finalist, by Ali Good, who sold her to Jim See in June.

Ezequiel Bustamante, the NCHA earner of $13,370, won the 2019 West Texas Futurity Amateur Limited on Wheely Smooth LTE $14,040, by Smooth As A Cat, and the 2020 Arbuckle Mountain Amateur Limited with his Sigala Rey daughter Reina Smart, who also carried him as an NCHA Derby Amateur Intermediate finalist, and as reserve champion in the Cattlemen’s Amateur Limited.

Aaron Cook, the NCHA earner of $24,129, has won money as an Amateur finalist in seven events, including the 2015 NCHA Derby on Metallic Bourbon LTE $16,594, by Metallic Cat, and the 2018 Breeders Invitational Classic on Mystic Candle LTE $12,854, by Metallic Cat. His 2020 NCHA Derby mount Kit Kat Stix, by Kit Kat Sugar, is a full brother to NRCHA champion Scooter Kat LTE $223,947, out of Scooters Daisy Dukes, by Dual Smart Rey.