The NCHA Summer Spectacular opens today in Forth Worth, with the first seven sets of 5 & 6-year-old open go-round competition.

The 5 & 6-year non-pro first go-round picks up on Wednesday, July 11 following the open second go-round on Tuesday, and Toy Engine and Mary Ann Rapp, non-pro champions at the Mercuria NCHA World Series Battle in the Saddle on July 4, will be saddled and ready in the fifth set of the day. Rapp will also show Shrimp Shack Shooter in the second set.

The Battle in the Saddle was the third high-dollar non-pro win for Rapp and 6-year-old Toy Engine this year. They also won the Abilene Spectacular Classic and the Tunica Classic, and earned over $11,000 as finalists in the Bonanza Cutting and the Mercuria NCHA World Series at San Antonio.

Bred by Phil and Mary Ann Rapp, NCHA’s all-time open and non-pro riders and owners, Toy Engine came to prominence in the 2009 NCHA Futurity, where she placed third in the non-pro division with Mary Ann.

“She was our best two-year-old all along,” said Mary Ann. “We really liked her.”

“It was a little confusing at our house (then) because we had another mare named My Other Toys A Car. She had already been named when we bought her and we called her Toy and this one Toy Engine.” My Other Toys A Car carried Mary Ann to place ninth in the 2008 NCHA Futurity and earn nearly $120,000.

Toy Engine, by Playgun, was bred by the Rapps. Her dam Cool The Engines, by Smart Little Lena, was kicked in the stifle as a 3-year-old and never shown. But Cats Full Measure, dam of Cool The Engines, earned over $235,000 with both Phil and Mary Ann.

Toy Engine has NCHA career earnings of $170,270 and Mary Ann has shown her to currently rank number 16 on the list of 2012 NCHA World Championship non-pro riders. Phil Rapp and Dont Look Twice, earner of $677,060, rank number one among 2012 World Championship open contenders. Dont Look Twice, bred by the Rapps and shown by Phil for owner Waco Bend Ranch, is NCHA’s all-time leading mare with official earnings of $677,060.