Boyd Rice, a top cutting horse trainer with over $3 million in NCHA earnings, won the 2011 National Reined Cow Horse Association (NRCHA) Circle Y Ranch Derby on January 31 aboard Boonie Toons, owned by Danny Poole, Texline, TX.

“He was the best he’s ever been in the rein work,” said Rice, whose 441-point win earned $9,212. “The cow didn’t run as hard as he could, but my horse was just perfect and gave it everything he could.”

Boonie Toons, by Peptoboonsmal out of Shiney Tari, began his career as a cutting horse. He was a semi-finalist with Rice in the NCHA Futurity and a finalist in the NCHA Super Stakes.

“I started to have some trouble with him (in cutting) and decided to show him in the cow horse,” said Rice. “He was pretty natural at it.”

Five-year-old Boonie Toons won his first cow horse event, the Faith Performance Horse Derby, and was a finalist in the open hackamore at the 2010 NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity. The circle Y Ranch Derby is his third cow horse event.

Rice won the 2007 NRCHA Futurity on Oh Cay N Short, and was reserve champion of the 2009 and 2005 NRCHA Futurities on Picka Patcha Pepto (also by Peptoboonsmal) and Playin Attraction, respectively.