All Champions:   Super Stakes OPEN:  
Austin Shepard, riding High Brow CD, by High Bow Cat, tied with Kory Pounds, riding Playin N Fancy Smart, by Smart Little Lena, to win the 2008 Super Stakes championship title – Open Division, in Fort Worth, Texas.  The finals took place on April 20th, and both horses scored 227 points for the championship.

NCHA Futurity champion High Brow CD and Austin Shepard of Summerdale, Alabama, rode seventh in the second set, looking for their fourth consecutive major title and the second leg of the NCHA Triple Crown.  Their 227 point run had the crowd excited.  Three riders later, came Playin N Fancy Smart and Kory Pounds of Millsap,Texas, tying the high score with another awesome run.

“I felt like my first two cows were really good, and my third cow was a little bit gentle,” said Shepard, who rides High Brow CD for the stallion’s new owner, Chris and Staci Thibodeaux’s Grace Ranch, Jennings, LA.  “I think if me or Kory, either one or the other, got a better third cow, the one with the better third cow would have won.  But I’m happy it ended like it did.  We both won.  I like tying with my friends.”

Playin N Fancy Smart is owned by Slate River Ranch, Glade Knight of Richmond,Virginia, and had good runs all the way up to the finals.  “A horse like that…she’s an outstanding horse,” said Pounds of the mare.  “I’m just tickled to have her and get to ride her.  All the hard work over the last little bit, started to pay off.”

Slate River Ranch had a good showing at the Super Stakes.  Between Playin N Fancy Smart, Peptos Stylish Miss, and Sarahs Super Cat, Slate River Ranch took home winnings of $190,184.  “It’s a testament to Slate River Ranch that they had three horses in the finals,” said Pounds.  “I knew my mare was good, I knew I cut good cows, I wasn’t trying to beat Austin.  I just wanted to go get my mare shows as best I could.”

Super Stakes NON-PRO:   Chad Bushaw of Weatherford, Texas, riding Cats Ruby, by High Brow Cat, and Paula Wood of Stephenville, Texas, on Cash My Boon, by Duals Blue Boon, tied for the Super Stakes Non-Pro Championship title on April 20, 2008.

Bushaw clinched the lead with 222 points as the third rider in the first set of the Finals. In the second set, Paula Wood scored 222 points to tie for the lead.  “Good clean cuts make the biggest difference,” said Bushaw.  “If you cut good cows, you’re supposed to dominate the situation.”

Bushaw purchased Cats Ruby through trainer Sean Flynn, and sold his gelding, Dual Ya Scoot, to Philip Layne, who won the NCHA Amateur Futurity championship on the horse.  “I was scratching my head there for a while, wondering if I had made the right decision,” said Bushaw of selling Dual Ya Scoot to Layne.  “But I couldn’t be happier for Philip, and you like to sell good horses to good people and see them do well.”

Paula Wood of Stephenville, TX, made her move in the second set.  “The first two cows were exactly the order that we wanted to cut them in,” she said.  “My horse is a run-go-stop type, and those kind of cows fit him.  He’s from everything that we’ve had and raised from Cash Quixote Rio to Duals Blue Boon to Tari Chick Gay,” Woods added, referring to horses shown by her husband, trainer   Kobie Wood, and owned by her father-in-law, L. H. Wood.  “It’s what we’ve dreamed of raising, and we finally got it.”  Paula Wood and Cash My Boon also won the Super Stakes $10,000 Novice Non-Pro division.

Super Stakes LIMITED NON-PRO:
Adan Banuelos of Jacksboro, Texas, riding Dual With Christy, sired by Nitro Dual Doc, scored 217 points to win the Super Stakes Limited Non-Pro division. Banuelos, 20, had earned $80,000 in cutting events before he took a break to compete on the rodeo circuit two years ago.  Now Banuelos, son of trainer Ascencion Banuelos, returned to cutting as the champion of the Super Stakes Limited Non-Pro class.

“The horse has been great through the whole deal,” said Banuelos of Dual With Christy.  “We went down there not trying to win it, because everything pays good.  But things just worked out.”  Banuelos earned $8,732 for the championship win.  “He was a nice horse at the Futurity,” said Banuelos.  “But he hadn’t had as much work as the rest of them.  We knew he was going to be a really nice horse, and he’s grown up and is a show horse now.  I like his quickness and his stops.  He’s got a lot of look and a lot of go.  We can’t even put shoes on him because he stops too hard.  We just jerked his shoes off.  He’s really low maintenance.”

Banuelos was 19 in 2005 when he won the MillionHeir Classic and $32,500 on Little Spartacus.  This year he has won reserve champion on Dual With Christy in the Augusta Non-Pro Futurity, and four other major limited age events finals on Reeds Instant Magic, Felena Bolena, MH Play For Big Money, and Dual With Christy.

Super Stakes Classic OPEN:  
Sister CD, by CD Olena, owned and ridden by Skip Queen, of Lipan, Texas, wins the 2008 Super Stakes Classic Open division on April 8, 2008, taking home his fourth Super Stakes championship trophy.  After winning the 2006 Super Stakes Non-Pro and 2007 Super Stakes Classic Non-pro on Sister CD, Queen made his debut as an apprentice trainer scoring 223 points in the Super Stakes Classic Open finals.

“I haven’t been so nervous in I don’t know how long,” said Queen, who collected $62,643 for the win.  Fifteen years ago, he won his first NCHA check, $375, on a horse named Son Ofa Sister.  “I was feeling a lot of pressure ever since I made the Finals,” said Queen of his other wins on Sister CD.  “It was like coming into the ninth inning with a no-hitter.”  

Queen rode in the last set, knowing the score to beat was 219.5.  His first two cows pressed his horse, and Queen blew a stirrup on the second cow.  “Half the ride I was without a stirrup,” he said.  “I was really struggling to keep up with him and stay in position.  Then we were able to chip a third cow and end on a high note.  He knows when it’s on the line.  Every time the money is on the line, he comes loaded.”

Sister CD, bred by Bar H Ranche out of Little Baby Sister, by Dual Pep, was trained by Paul Hansma, who won on him at the 2006 Super Stakes and Derby, Abilene Spectacular, and Breeders Invitational.  The 2008 Super Stakes Classic Open win was Sister CD’s eleventh major victory, with earnings over $540,000.  “I couldn’t have written it any better than to win the Non-Pros and then the Open like this,” said Queen. “That earns him a permanent place on our farm.”  Queen, his wife Elizabeth, and their children live in Lipan, Texas on their training facility.

Super Stakes Classic John Deere Division of the OPEN:  
CDs Lucky Gal, by CD Olena, owned by Robert and Carrie Tiemann of Pflugerville, Texas, won the Super Stakes Classic John Deere division of the Openwith Kelly Kasun of Rockdale, Texas, aboard.

This Super Stakes win with a score of 218 points, was Kelly Kasun’s second consecutive title win at Will Rogers Coliseum.  Last December, Kasun won the NCHA Futurity Open Limited championship on Gunnin At Sundown.  “The cows were a little ratty,” said Kasun, who drew sixth to work in the eight horse finals.  “Any time you get a small number of cows in this arena, they don’t get comfortable because they spread out from their buddies too much.  It was hard to go down there and be smooth, and that’s all we were trying to do.”

CDs Lucky Gal was shown three times in one week at the Super Stakes.  She also qualified for the Open Wildcard.  “The first cow I cut tonight, I felt she was a little loose,” said Kasun.  “Then she just tightened down and got smart.  She doesn’t get tricked very often, and she’s really eye-appealing.”

Kasun has had the 5-year old CD Olena daughter since she was two.  He rode her as the 2007 Breeders Invitational Limited reserve champion, and placed third in both the Memphis Futurity Open Limited and the NCHA Derby Open Limited.  Recently he was third on her in the Tunica Classic Open Limited.  Under a new format in the competition in the Limited division, riders have the opportunity to make a smoother transition into the Open.  “It gives an outlet for owners, too,” said Kasun.  “We’re starting to get competitive in the Open.  But if you stub your   toe as a green showman, the Limited allows you to win some money.  It’s a good paycheck.  It gives guys a chance, if they have a bad year.  It allows them to come back and get their feet wet.”

Super Stakes Classic NON-PRO and Super Stakes ClassicLIMITED NON-PRO:  
Mica Motes of Weatherford, Texas, riding SL Jaybird, by Smart Little Jerry, won both the Super Stakes Classic Non-Pro, and the Super Stakes Classic Limited Non-Pro championships on April 8 and 9, 2008.  SL Jaybird also won the Open Wild Card class under Winston Hansma.

“He loves it so much that you know every time you go out there, he’s going to try his hardest,” said the gelding’s owner and rider, Mica Motes.  “Some horses really enjoy it, but very few crave it.  He’s one that does.”

Motes’ score of 224 in the Super Stakes Classic Limited Non-Pro division was 9 points above the second-placed horse.  “I cut three cows in the Finals and it went well,” she said.  “He had been quite wild for me in the second go-round.”

The six-year old gelding, SL Jaybird, has earned more than $220,000 since Motes purchased him from Renee Carter.  His other wins include the 2006 and 2007 Non-Pro Cutting, 2007 Cotton Non-Pro Classic, 2007 NCHA Non-Pro Classic Challenge, and Reserve Champion of the NCHA Classic Challenge and Bonanza Cutting Classic.
 
Motes score in the Super Stakes Classic Non-Pro was 219.  “I’m very confident on him, where ever we draw,” said Motes.  “I’m not a huge fan of being first, but I just show him like I’m right in the middle of a perfect draw.”

“Today I turned him out in his pasture next to Boss,” said Motes referring to SL Jaybird’s buddy CD Lights, 2006 NCHA World Champion Stallion, owned by Mica’s mother, Danny Motes, and Winston Hansma.

Motes has lifetime earnings of over $160,000.  

Super Stakes Classic AMATEUR:  
Patrick Collins of Lincoln, IL, riding Oh Cay Felix, by High Brow Cat, scored 222.5 to take home the Super Stakes Classic Amateur championship on April 11, 2008.  Oh Cay Felix, owned by Patrick and Laura Collins, was also the winner of the 2006 Futurity Open and Amateur divisions, and reserve champion of the 2007 NCHA Amateur Derby division.

“I wasn’t conservative,” said Collins, who owns a feedlot in Lincoln, IL.  “I knew I had to go out there and ask him to head three cows and let the cards fall where they may.  I went out there with no preconceived notions, no fears, and fortunately it all worked.  A lot of times it doesn’t.”

Collins bred and raised Oh Cay Felix.  In additions to his Futurity and Derby wins, the gelding was 2007 West Texas Open Gelding under Craig Thompson, as well as Music City Amateur champion for Collins.  Oh Cay Felix has been a major finalist in 12 events, and has earned nearly $355,000.  “He’s matured,” said Collins.  “He’s very solid and the thing that I worry about is doing him justice and getting three cows sorted out properly for him.  I feel there is a lot of pressure on me.  Felix knows how to do it. Can I get him set up?  That’s the challenge.”

Super Stakes AMATEUR:  
Von Sutten, of Fort Worth, Texas, riding Smartware, by Smart Lil Scoot, wins the Super Stakes Amateur championship on April 12, 2008.  Sutten and his mare, Smartware, scored 220.5 points to win the finals.  “It was pretty exciting,” said Sutten, who worked midway through the second set.  “We worked her pretty hard in the practice pen, and I knew she was right on.  She was feeling fabulous.”

Smartware is a full sister to Playware, a finalist with Austin Shepard in the NCHA Open Futurity.  Sutten purchased the mare at last year’s NCHA Futurity, where she placed fifth in the Open Limited.    This is Sutten’s second major win on Smartware.  He also won the South Point Amateur on her with 219 points.  “She stepped up a level today,” he said.  “Her ability to grab the ground so hard and hold those stops was where I saw the big difference.”    Sutten and his wife, Andrea, own a national real estate company based in Fort Worth.

Results for non-working finals
  GELDING STAKES OPEN:  Dual Ya Scoot, ridden by Tom Dvorak, and owned by Philip Layne  
GELDING STAKES NON-PRO:  Linday Ashlock riding Quejanaisabelle   SUPER STAKES CLASSIC SELECT NON-PRO:  Billy Martin riding Louis Starlight   SUPER STAKES CLASSIC SELECT AMATEUR:  Chuck Drummond riding Louis Starlight  
SUPER STAKES SELECT AMATEUR:  Darol Rodrock, riding SR Little Badger