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.