Skip Queen, winner of the 2006 NCHA Super Stakes Non-Pro and the 2007 Super Stakes Classic Non-Pro on Sister CD, by CD Olena, made his debut as an apprentice trainer with a gritty 223-point win in last night’s Super Stakes Open Classic.

“I haven’t been so nervous in I don’t know how long,” said Queen, who collected $62,643 for the win. Fifteen years ago, he won his first check – $375 – on a horse named Son Ofa Sister.

“I was feeling a lot of pressure ever since I made the Finals,” said Queen, referring to his previous Super Stakes wins on Sister CD. “It was like coming into the ninth inning with a no-hitter.”

Queen worked third from last in the last set, with Halreycious and Lloyd Cox, eventual reserve champions, on the board as leaders with 219.5. His first two cows pressed his horse hard. Sister CD held his ground, but Queen blew a stirrup on the second cow.

“Half the ride I was without a stirrup,” he said. “I was really struggling to keep up with him and stay in position. Then we were able to chip a third cow and end on a high note.

“He knows when it’s on the line,” Queen added. “Every time the money is on the line, he comes loaded.”

Bred by Bar H Ranche out of Little Baby Sister, by Dual Pep, Sister CD was trained by Paul Hansma, who won the 2006 NCHA Super Stakes Gelding championship with him, as well as the Abilene Spectacular and Breeders Invitational that same year, and was reserve on him in the 2006 NCHA Derby.

Last night’s win was Sister CD’s eleventh major victory, including four unprecedented wins in the NCHA Super Stakes, and boosted his earnings to more than $540,000.

“I couldn’t have written it any better than to win the Non-Pros and then the Open like this,” said Queen. “That earns him a permanent place on our farm.”

Queen, his wife Elizabeth, and their children Elliott and Katherine, live in Lipan, TX, where Skip maintains a training facility for their horses, as well as for those of outside clients.