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Little Pepto Gal
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By
Karen Cannon
So just what does it take
for a horse to win the
coveted NCHA Futurity
Championship? Ability,
charisma, cow sense, or just
a lot of luck?
Before a trainer can begin
writing his acceptance
speech and practicing his
toast to the reserve
champion, his mount must
carry him through two
grueling go-rounds and a
semifinals to be invited
back to the finals. With
only 24 horses making that
fourth trip into the working
area, one has to wonder,
what makes a horse futurity
finals caliber? And since
the Futurity is the
3-year-old's debut
performance, what gives them
the confidence to persuade
the owners to write the
entry fee check months in
advance?
Cutting fans that filled the
Will Rogers Coliseum on Dec.
16 for the Open finals may
have thought they were
experiencing deja vu. Five
entries in the Open battled
their way through the first
two go's and the semis, to
enter the finals on not one,
but two horses, proving it's
not just what's under the
saddle that counts.
The riders
Ronnie and Tag Rice
dominated the last night of
the 20-day competition,
claiming the first two
positions and riding four of
the 24 horses in the Open
finals. The youngest of the
Buffalo, Texas, cowboys
kicked things off aboard
Jerry R. Jones' Mr Beamon to
set the standard with a 222.
WIth no time to contemplate
on the ride, Tag hopped onto
a help horse to hold the
herd for his dad, Ronnie.
Riding Smart Sugar Badger,
owned by the Flying M Ranch,
things were just getting
started. Tag returned in the
second hole of the second
bunch riding Short Candy to
a 219.5. Five horses later,
Tag became the Reserve
Champion when his dad rode
San Tule Freckles to capture
the win with a 223.5. Ronnie
padded his pocket with
$246,170 for first and 11th,
while Tag took home $271,000
for second and fourth.
Matt Gaines, Weatherford,
Texas, may not have ousted
the Rice family from the top
two spots, but he did give
them a run for their money.
Riding Little Pepto Gal,
owned by Crystal Creek
Ranch, Aledo, Texas, in the
second bunch, Gaines ended
up between Tag's horses,
taking third with a 220.
Five horses later, he and C
Bar S Ranch's Zacks Lena
posted a 212.5.
Ascencion Banuelos could be
seen both in the first and
second go of the finals.
Riding Lonnie and Barbara
Allsup's Angels Little
Gunner, he marked a
sixth-place 218. Drawing
last in the second bunch, he
rode Nitro Dual Doc, owned
by Hollis Akin to mark a
214.
Paul Hansma rode Haidas CD,
owned by the Coleman Cattle
Co., Texarkana, Texas, in
the middle of the first
bunch to mark a 211 and Milt
and Mary Bradford's Doc
Alley at the bottom of the
second bunch to post a
215.5.
The horses
We all know these five
trainers. They've graced the
stages of numerous winners'
circles and they've filled
the saddles of some amazing
horses. It's no surprise
that they entered the herd
on finals night twice. But
the horses that carried them
into the herd are rookies.
So what is it about these
3-year-olds that kept them
from falling into the
trenches of one of the three
preliminary rounds?
According to Matt, the
two mares he rode on Sunday
night are as different as
night and day. He said
Crystal Creek Ranch's pretty
little mare, Little Pepto
Gal, that he rode first in
the finals, is more of an
intellect than a jock.
"She's a real thinker," he
said of the mare, which is
by Elaine Hall's
Peptoboonsmal out of
Freckles O Lena by Doc O'
Lena. "She's real showy and
smart. Her real attribute is
that she always try's to
outthink the cow and that
shows through in her
expressions. That's the best
thing about her."
Zacks Lena, by Matt's
father's stud, Zack T Wood,
out of Ceelena Jo by Doc
O'Lena, and owned by the C
Bar S Ranch, is the athlete
of the two.
"That mare, she's a very
strong mare," he said.
"She's got a big stop. She
deserved to finish higher
than she did today but there
just weren't any cows left.
She's a great mare that's
going to win a lot of
money."
Banuelos nearly recited
Matt's reasoning for his two
horses surviving the
go-rounds. Of the Allsups'
horse, Angels Little Gunner,
Ascencion called the mare
"smart, athletic and very
well-trained." The mare, by
Terry Riddle's Young Gun out
of Little Bitty Angel by
Smart And Trouble, should be
well trained. The Allsups'
home-grown mare was broke
and trained by Ascencion's
program.
Ascencion entered the
finals with high hopes for
his second mount, Hollis
Akin's Nitro Dual Doc.
"He's a great horse," he
said. "That horse was
capable of winning it all.
Some things just didn't work
out."
The red roan stallion, by
Peptoboonsmal out of Miss
Dual Doc by Doc's Remedy,
proved mature beyond her
mere three years, holding
three cows despite drawing
last in the second bunch.
Hansma credited his
appearance in the finals
aboard Haidas CD to the
horse's maturity and
consistency.
"We bought that horse in
February in Memphis for
Cookie Coleman," he said of
the sorrel gelding, by Bar H
Ranche's CD Olena and out of
Haida Ho by Haidas Little
Pep. "J.B. McLamb trained
him and he's just a nice
little, stable gelding."
As for Milt and Mary
Bradford's Doc Alley, Paul
claimed it was the mare's
appearance in the center of
the pen that got her to the
finals and the lack of
center of the pen cows that
kept her from placing higher
in the finals.
"She's a real showy horse,"
he said of the mare, by Bar
H Ranche's Dual Pep out of
Sannie Olena by Doc O' Lena.
"I wish we would've got some
better cows cut because
she's not really a big
run-and-stop type of horse.
She's got a lot of look
right in the middle of the
pen."
The unanimous conclusion
seems to be that to have a
Futurity Open finals caliber
horse, at the tender age of
3, the horse must possess
one of the following traits:
The brains of Little Pepto
Gal, the consistency of
Nitro Dual Doc and Haidas
CD, the strength of Zacks
Lena, the appearance of Doc
Alley and the athleticism of
Angels Little Gunner.
And of course, a top-notch
trainer in the saddle never
hurt. |
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