Quirk tops Day 1 of Non-Pro

National Cutting Horse Association – Written by Sally Harrison

Elizabeth Quirk of Denham Springs, Louisiana, marked 219 on Mosses Man, by Metallic Cat, to lead the first day of Non-Pro competition Monday at the Lucas Oil NCHA Super Stakes in Fort Worth.

Glade Knight was next best with a 218 on High Stylish Cat (High Brow Cat). He was followed by no fewer than nine riders at 216: Jodie Cerny on Mare E Hughes (Thomas E Hughes); Brett Johnson on Superfly (Smooth As A Cat); Jade Mitchell on Nedd (That Sly Cat); Hope Mitchell on One Super Cat (One Time Pepto); Ty Moore on Wisper Sweetnothings (Smart Little Lena); Lach Perks on Sweet N Starlight (Smooth As A Cat); Elizabeth Queen on My Girl Crush (One Time Pepto); Mary Ann Rapp on Coooter Brown (Dualin Puddy Tap); and Lindy Ashlock on Rubies N Diamonds (Dual Rey).

Mosses Man was bred by Linda Holmes out of Nurse Moss, a full sister to $29 million sire Dual Rey.
Kory Pounds rode the gelding to the NCHA Futurity semi-finals, and Quirk was a Non-Pro finalist with him at the Bonanza this spring.

Quirk is a two-time NCHA Super Stakes Non-Pro finalist, riding A Cat Be Nimble in 2011 and Boudin Cat in 2014.

Maid Of Metal Dominates NCHA Super Stakes Classic Open

Quarter Horse News – Written by Krisen Pitzer

Equi-Stat Elite $1 Million Rider Morgan Cromer was ecstatic when she qualified for the Classic Open finals at the Lucas Oil National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) Super Stakes, held Saturday, April 2, in Fort Worth, Texas, at the Will Rogers Coliseum. Three of the four horses she entered had made it back for the final round.

“It was the coolest thing ever. I was so happy to have more than one shot! Usually you get in the finals and you have one that you put all the thought into,” Cromer, of Templeton, California, said.

Cromer’s first horse, Maid Of Metal, came out of the second hole in the first bunch to mark a 223. The score held through 23 other runs to keep the lead. Then, it was CR Tuff Lucy, who sold for $600,000 in the inaugural Center Ranch Production Sale, and Equi-Stat Elite $3 Million Rider John Mitchell’s turn in the pen. They put in a performance that had the crowd cheering in the stands, and everyone held their breath as the scoreboard lit up. It was a 222.5.

The final two runs did not top Cromer’s 223, and at the end of the night, Cromer had achieved her first major win. She and Maid Of Metal (Metallic Cat x Pretty Smart Kitty x Smart Lil Ricochet), who was bred by Beau Galyean and named by Ashley Galyean, walked away with the Championship and $64,816 for owner Judy Siebel, of Ross, California. That sum pushed Maid Of Metal’s lifetime earnings to $108,351.

Maid Of Metal’s Gold Medal Run

National Cutting Horse Association – Written by Sally Harrison

Hall of Famer Morgan Cromer and Maid Of Metal, by Metallic Cat, marked a 223 as the second contestant and held on for the win in the Lucas Oil NCHA Super Stakes Classic finals in Fort Worth Saturday. John Mitchell, third-to-last rider on CR Tuff Lucy, took the reserve title with a 222.5.

The win was the first for Cromer, 33, in historic Will Rogers Coliseum.

Maid Of Metal was bred by Beau and Ashley Galyean, and is owned by Judy Siebel of Ross, California. She is out of Pretty Smart Kitty, a Smart Lil Ricochet mare whose show career was reportedly curtailed by EPM. Pretty Smart Kitty is a granddaughter of Doc’s Kitty, the mare that Shorty Freeman showed to win the NCHA Derby and place second in the NCHA Futurity.

Cromer picked Maid Of Metal as a yearling, and Kate Neubert showed her as a semi-finalist at the 2014 NCHA Futurity. Cromer took reserve championships on the mare at last year’s Pacific Coast Winter Round-up and the Idaho Derby. She was a Pacific Coast Winter Round-up finalist again a few weeks before the Super Stakes Classic.

The Cromer/Siebel team have previously had success with Duals Dancer, a $100,000 earner that was a finalist in the NCHA Super Stakes and a dozen other major events.

Maid Of Metal earned an estimated $64,800 in the Super Stakes Classic. That eclipses Cromer’s previous top check in Will Rogers Coliseum of $47,277 with TF High Chex CD as an NCHA Futurity Finalist. She also rode TF High Chex CD and Little Dirty Deeds in tonight’s Super Stakes Classic.

Cromer’s previous highest finish in Will Rogers Coliseum was a fourth in the Western Bloodstock NCHA Winter Showdown in 2015 on Little Dirty Deeds.

Ashlock “Stars” in John Deere Division finals

National Cutting Horse Association – Written by Sally Harrison

Wes Ashlock was the first rider to the herd on Metallics Star in the John Deere Division Limited Open finals of the Lucas Oil NCHA Super Stakes Classic in Fort Worth Friday, and he laid down a winning 221-point run.

Todd Gann took the reserve championship with a 218.5 on Hevvy Metal. The top two horses are both by Metallic Cat.

Owned by John and Jana Thacker of Abilene, Texas, Metallics Star was a $17,500 purchase as a yearling at the 2012 Western Bloodstock NCHA Summer Sale. He was bred by GS Cutting Horses out of Swingin Star Lady, a mare that Dean Sanders rode to win the Non-Pro Augusta Futurity and Steamboat Springs Derby in 1999. That mare has also produced $200,000 earnerr Swingin Star Pepto.

Metallics Star went over $50,000 in career earnings with his John Deere Division win. He has previous Limited Open championships with Ashlock at last year’s Abilene Spectacular and West Texas Derby.

Ashlock rode another horse for the Thackers, Amafoxy Cat, when he won his first championship in Will Rogers Coliseum, the John Deere Division of the Super Stakes Classic in 2014.