NCHA News

Looks Halreycious LTE $111,278, shown by Bill Pierce for J3 Cutting Horses, Kentwood, La., scored 225 points on Friday, March 6, to win the 2019 NCHA Eastern Nationals $25,000 Novice Finals. Ichi Sangria LTE $172,935 earned the reserve title with 223 points, under Guy Woods for EE Ranches Inc., Whitesboro, Tex. CR Dualin Out Tuff LTE $84,471 and Metallic Cash Flo LTE $64,813 tied to split third and fourth with 222 points under Austin Shepard for Julie Beasley, Montgomery, Ala., and Brett Davis for E.T. Jones, Dallas, Tex.

Eleven-year-old Looks Halreycious, by Halreycious and out of 1999 NCHA Open Derby champion Smart Lookin Hi Brow $216,395, was also an NCHA Eastern Nationals Open finalist last year under Bill Pierce. The NCHA Open Hall of Fame earner of $1,166,888, Pierce also showed Dual Smart Dee Jay LTE $56,785, owned by Linda Polk, to win last year’s Eastern Nationals $5,000 Novice.

Guy Woods and 10-year-old Ichi Sangria, by Cat Ichi, placed third in last year’s NCHA Eastern Nationals Open. Together, Woods and Ichi Sangria have won four NCHA Eastern championship titles and placed in eight more; they have also placed in five NCHA Western Nationals finals. Woods, the NCHA Open Hall of Fame earner of over $2.7 million, has won 13 NCHA Eastern Nationals titles riding for EE Ranches, including the Open championship on Scratchin, the dam of Ichi Sangria.

Woods also scored 221.5 points to place fifth in Friday’s finals for EE Ranches riding 4-year-old Blu Laney Bird LTE $10,160, by Once In A Blu Boon.

Five-year-old CR Dualin Out Tuff LTE $84,471, by Woody Be Tuff, was a 2018 NCHA Futurity Non-Pro finalist under owner Julie Beasley. The pair also won five amateur titles in 2019. Austin Shepard, an all-time leading NCHA Hall of Fame earner of over $8.2 million, has won a record nine NCHA Eastern Nationals Open championships, including his first, in 2002, when he won aboard Widows Freckles LTE $113,522, who also carried owner Lauren Middleton to win the Non-Pro title the same year.

Seven-year-old Metallic Cash Flo, by Metallic Cat, was reserve champion under Brett Davis in last year’s NCHA Western Nationals Open and placed fourth in the $25,000 Novice. Most recently this year, the red roan mare placed third with Davis in the Augusta Futurity Classic. Davis, the NCHA Open Hall of Fame earner of over $2.1 million, won the NCHA Eastern Nationals Open championship in 2001 riding Son Of Olena LTE $39,091, and in 2010 on A Track Runs Thru It $108,312.

Jimmy Snodgrass wins NCHA Eastern $2,000 Limited 

Jimmy Snodgrass, Byron, Ill., who had $421 in NCHA earnings when he came to this year’s Eastern Nationals, will leave with $5,344, including $4,934 earned as champion of the $2,000 Limited Rider Finals. Riding Divas On Time, owned by Amanda Standish, Baton Rouge, La., Snodgrass scored 223.5 points for his win. 

Cody Cain, Chancellor, Ala., scored 221.5 on CD Cats Olena to claim the reserve champion’s title, and Heather Todd, Murray, Ky., placed third with 219 points on GS Zans Cat, owned by Chaser Crouch, Corsicana, Tex.

Twelve-year-old Divas On Time LTE $173,746, by One Time Pepto, was trained and shown in Open limited age events by Austin Shepard, and ridden in amateur events by Amanda Standish. In 2016, the red roan mare carried Rhein Standish to win the NCHA Eastern Nationals $2,000 Limited Rider championship, and Amanda to win the 2013 NCHA Eastern Nationals Non-Pro, as well as the 2015 ($50,000) Amateur. Brett Davis also showed Divas On Time as reserve champion of the 2015 Eastern Nationals.

CD Cats Olena LTE $30,095, sired by CD Olena and bred by Gene Quirk Jr., is the NCHA earner of $30,095. This is the 16-year-old mare’s first time to be shown in Jackson, but her rider Cody Cain, the NCHA earner of $3,348, showed Peponitas Gunner LTE $61,860 in the 2017, and the 2018 $2,000 Limited Rider finals.

This is also the first time for Heather Todd, the NCHA earner of $16,491, to show in the Eastern Nationals. However, she showed  GS Zans Cat to place sixth in the 2019 NCHA World Finals $2,000 Limited Rider Finals, as well as Suzie Stylish Rey LTE $36,545 in the $15,000 Amateur.

Thirteen-year-old GS Zans Cat $185,847, by Smooth As A Cat, competed as a five and six-year-old limited event Open finalist with Kenneth Miller; Casey and Chaser Crouch have showed her successfully in all-age events, including the NCHA Eastern and Western, with Casey and Croucher, and the NCHA Youth World Finals with Croucher.

To read more from Sally Harrison, visit her blog at sallyharrison.com.