Nothing To Lose reigned supreme, following the conclusion of Open go-round competition, yesterday.
The High Brow Cat son, owned and shown by Tate Bennett, tied Bennett’s other mount, Rios Jewel, for the win of the the first go-round with 221 points, then scored 217 in the second round to earn the top cumulative score of 438 points and a first-class ticket to the Open Semi-Finals on Friday, December 14.
Rios Jewel also qualified for the Semi-Finals with 436 points.
Steve Earl, ridden by Bill Riddle, and Bamacat, with Austin Shepard, each scored 219 points to tie for the win in the second go-round.
Steve Earl qualified for the Semi-Finals with 425.5 points, on Saturday, while Bamacat squeezed by Friday with 431 points on a bubble of 430.
He Bea Cat and Tarin Rice scored 218.5 points to tie Looks Halreycious and Morgan Cromer with the second highest score from the second go-round; Donas Suen Boon and Kobie Wood tied for third with 218 points.
Stacy and I are big Alabama fans,” said Shepard, who lives in Summerdale, Ala., where he and Stacy raised Bamacat out of MH San Tule Dually, LTE $330,220, shown by Stacy to win the 2008 Millionaire 5-Year-Old Non-Pro Classic.
“Alabama won their game yesterday and people told us, if (Alabama) could come from behind and win, we could, too.
With a score of 212 points from the first go-round, Bamacat and Shepard faced a hurdle in the second round, with the bubble at 430 points.
“We had a rough first go-round,” said Shepard, who won the 2007 NCHA Futurity on High Brow CD. “The cattle were bad and we didn’t get shown very clean. I was terribly disappointed because he’s been such a special horse.
“These cattle were a lot easier to handle today. I’m about as happy as I’ve ever been to make the Semis.”
He Bea Cat and Tarin Rice also faced testy cattle in the first go-round, where they scored 215 points.
“The horse really tried hard in the first go-round,” said Rice of the High Brow Cat son, owned by Jim Crawford.
“I cut some tough cows and was really proud of the way he held them. But I don’t feel like I did as good a job as I should have in cutting the cows and maybe that’s why they were a little bit wild.
“I feel like he always tries to help.and I’ve been really happy with him all year.”
Donas Suen Boon, by Boon Too Suen, is a homebred owned and trained by Kobie Wood, who showed both her father and mother.