Craig Thompson won the Southern Open Cutting Horse Derby with 219 points on his own horse, Smartys Playgirl Annie, tied for fourth and fifth on Randy Clark’s stallion Vicarious Thrill, and finished as a finalist with Stylish Stuff and Cats Good Intentions, both owned by Don and Carol Dewrell.

Jerries Dual Legacy, ridden by Grant Simon for John and Hope Mitchell, and Jazzs Little Joy, under Brad Mitchell for Don Bussey, tied for second and third. The Southern Cutting Horse Futurity, held in Jackson, MS, runs through Saturday, October 28.

“My family’s here (Mississippi), so it’s always nice to get my horses shown when I come back,” said Thompson, who owns a training facility in Buffalo, TX, where he lives with his wife Sasha, and sons, Chase, 5, and Catch, 2.

Thompson purchased Smartys Playgirl Annie, by Smart Lil Scoot, a few months ago on the recommendation of trainer J.B. McLamb. The mare had been started at two by Wayne Robinson, who tied for ninth in the Southern Derby on Natalie Rey. Just days after the purchase, Smartys Playgirl Annie was kicked by another horse and had to be laid off. Thompson was able to get just two weekend shows under his new mare before the Southern Derby.

“She’s still a little green, but we sure like her,” said Thompson. “She tries really hard, is smart on a cow, and is a big, strong-moving mare.”

Today, Thompson is back in the second go-round of the Southern Futurity 3-year-old division with two horses – Bowmans Little Lena, owned by St Nicks Pines, and Spoonfullopep, owned by Neil Anderson.

Zeke Entz (left), who recently won the All American Quarter Horse Congress Open Cutting Futurity on his gelding Smart Lil Paragon, claimed the Southern Cutting Classic with 222 points on Smart Lil Jewel, owned by Brad Spence. Entz trains out of Spence’s cutting horse facility in Collierville, TN.

“I wanted to cut something that would push up off of me,” noted Entz, who had fallen victim to a fresh heifer in the first bunch of the finals with Alittle Street Smart, owned by Joe Wright. “The first cow was good, but my second cow was great. It was one of the best cows cut here this week and my horse did a bunch. He can really sit on his hocks and control a cow.”

Entz purchased Smart Lil Jewel, by Lenas Jewel Bars, as a yearling at the NCHA Futurity Sales and sold him to Spence at three. The 6-year-old gelding has earned more than $85,000, and carried Entz’s daughter, Katlyn, 14, to win the 2005 NCHA Eastern National Junior Youth Championship in Jackson.