Anyway you sliced it, Poundcake Deluxe and Jessica Gonsalves were clear cut winners in last night’s NCHA Futurity Limited Non-Pro division, with 221 points.

Ryder Carpenter and Eddie Montana claimed reserve with 219.5 points; while Christina Cox and Smart Roxie Rey were third with 218 points.

“I felt like she was probably going to be tired from the first go-round, so I was going to have to use her a lot more,” said Gonsalves, referring to her ride on Poundcake Deluxe in the last set of the Limited Non-Pro Semi-Finals, just a few hours before her draw in the first set of the Finals.

“But my husband (trainer Gary Gonsalves) got her brightened up for me and she felt really good.

“I tried to be aggressive on my cuts and felt like since it was the finals, I had nothing to lose. And Christina Cox kind of gave me the oomph to step it up.”

Cox had scored 218 points four slots before Gonsalves’s ride.

Sired by Cats Quixote Jack, Poundcake Deluxe is out of Etta Rey, 2012 Open Ltd. reserve champion under Mark Michels, and a gift from Jessica’s mother, Susan Hearst, who had shown the mare’s dam, Solano Sally, producer  of the earners of $616,914, including Rey Down Sally, with $404,170.

“We’re pretty excited that we raised her,” said Gonsalves of Poundcake Deluxe. “This is the first one out of Etta Rey that I’ve shown. We also have a full brother that got hurt a week before we came here. But we’ll show him next year – I’m really excited to break him out, too.”