By Chris Gay
The Augusta
Chronicle
Hope Justice on
Freckles Lena Boon
won the 4-Year-Old
Non-Pro Division
with a score of
222.0. Photo by Jeff
Barnes/Staff
Justice finally
prevailed in
Augusta.
Hope Justice, 27,
and Freckles Lena
Boon marked a 222 on
the first run of the
20-horse competition
and won the Futurity
Non-Pro finals by a
half-point over
Lance Harrel and PG
Special Edition on
Saturday night.
Justice collected
$16,195 for her
first Augusta title.
"Augusta is so
prestigious," said
Justice, of Canton,
Texas. "Everybody
goes, 'Oh God, are
you going to
Augusta?' because it
is such a long
drive. The cows are
known to be a bit
testy. But to get
the recognition the
horse gets and the
people get - and
they do such a good
job of putting on
the cutting - it
means a lot."
Harrel earned
$11,820 for his
second-place finish,
while defending
champion Mary Ann
Rapp, on Ruby Deuce,
posted a 220 and
showed third for
$9,751.
Because Justice and
Freckles Lena Boon,
a mare by
Peptoboonsmal out of
Freckles Quick Girl,
ran first, the two
received moderated
applause after their
run. Their score
pleasantly surprised
the late-arriving
crowd.
"Not until the
second set did
everybody get into
it," Justice said.
"It was pretty laid
back. I knew it was
a good run. When you
know, you know. When
that buzzer rang, I
was just all smiles.
When she (Freckles
Lena Boon) does what
she does and I get
my job done, it's a
good feeling."
No one came close to
threatening Justice
until Rapp marked
her score on the
second run of the
second set of 10
horses. Then
Harrell, riding
15th, electrified
the crowd as he cut
his first two cows.
But he ran out of
time trying to cut a
third cow.
"If there was a
horse that was going
to beat me, he
deserved to beat
me," Justice said.
"His horse was
awesome. He cut some
good cows in that
bunch. I thought if
they were going to
put someone above
me, he deserved to
be above me."
Justice and Freckles
Lena Boon won the
first go-round of
this competition
with a 221. They
played it safe in
the second go,
marking a 212.5 for
a 433.5, the
second-highest
aggregate score.
It's been quite a
short year for
Justice after bad
luck cost her the
NCHA Non-Pro
Futurity title in
December. Justice
would have won the
event had she not
lost a third cow at
the buzzer. Those
final seconds cost
Justice more than
$20,000 as she
finished ninth.
In early January,
Justice won the
Futurity Non-Pro
event in the
Abilene, Texas,
Spectacular on
Freckles Lena Boon,
a horse she owns.
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