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Cody Hedlund won the Non-Pro Showdown in Cowtown on Meteles Cat. Hart Photography.

It was a big win in more ways than one, for Cody Hedlund and Meteles Cat on Monday night, in the Non-Pro division of the inaugural Western Bloodstock NCHA Showdown in Cowtown. The 227-point score was Hedlund’s highest earned in a limited age event, and the winner’s purse of $35,000 hit a home run out of Will Rogers Coliseum.

“That’s a huge check with a huge number on it,” said Hedlund, who collected $16,417 for his Non-Pro win in the 2015 Breeders Invitational. “This (Showdown in Cowtown) is going to be a big deal and I hope they continue it.”

Steven Feiner and Lil Rattler placed second with 222 points to earn $22,000, while Kylie Rice and Master Mate scored 219 points for third and $20,000.

The Showdown in Cowtown was a concept suggested to NCHA by Western Bloodstock Ltd.’s Jeremy Barwick, an innovator in cutting horse marketing and sales.

Five-year-old Meteles Cat, by Metallic Cat, is now the earner of more than $220,000. In addition to his Breeders Invitational win, he also placed as non-pro reserve champion in the 2014 Breeders Invitational and NCHA Super Stakes, and won the PCCHA non-pro championship.

Six-year-old Lil Rattler, by Dual Rey out of 2005 NCHA Futurity champion Highbrow Supercat, also surpassed all of her previous non-pro earnings with her Showdown cache of $22,000. The lifetime earner of nearly $260,000, Lil Rattler’s biggest previous share of a purse came as fourth-placed open finalist in the 2013 NCHA Super Stakes, under Wesley Galyean.

“I was getting kind of nervous and I don’t usually get too nervous,” said Cody Hedlund, who drew last to work in the 12-horse field of the Non-Pro Showdown in Cowtown finals, where Feiner and Lil Rattler drew next-to-last. “With Steven having that run right before me, I wanted to make sure I had an aggressive run and they (judges) knew I was here.

“My help did an awesome job of keeping me calm and finding my cows.”

Meteles Cat was bred and trained by Hedlund’s father, Rock, who qualified for this week’s NCHA Derby Open Semi-Finals with 434 points on Twice As Smoothe. Meteles Cat is also a half-brother, out of Teles Lies, to Teles Bout This Cat LTE $223,509, by WR This Cats Smart.

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Adan Banuelos marked 226 on Pedel To The Metall to win the inaugural Western Bloodstock NCHA Showdown in Cowtown

It was Pedel To The Metall, with Adan Banuelos aboard, for a 226-point win in the 12-horse finals of the Western Bloodstock NCHA Showdown in Cowtown on Sunday, July 12, during the NCHA Summer Cutting Spectacular. The win was worth $60,000 to the 4-year-old Metallic Cat son’s owner, Faith Mountain Ranch, Houston, Tex.

Reyzin, shown by Phil Rapp for Gale Force Quarter Horses, placed second with 223 points, and Junie Wood, with John Mitchell for Slate River Ranch, was third with 221.5 points. Six-year-old Reyzin, by High Brow CD, earned $39,500; five-year-old Junie Wood, by Nitas Wood, earned $26,000.

“He’s a real strong horse and has an insane amount of natural draw to him,” said Banuelos, who qualified for the finals with 222 points in the 59-horse go-round, held at Silverado Arena in Weatherford, Tex., and drew fourth to ride in the finals.

“I didn’t plan on coming to cut with that much time on the last cow,” Banuelos added. “But I saw an opportunity and went for it without worrying about the clock. I didn’t know the cow. I just walked out with it and when I put my hand down, there was 40 seconds left on the clock.”

Watch the video.

Pedel To The Metall was bred by Gail Holmes’ Double Dove Ranch out of the Dual Rey daughter Twice As Reycy, reserve champion of the 2003 NCHA Futurity and third in the 2004 NCHA Derby. He is a three-quarter brother to Reycy Moon, the earner of $209,363, sired by Cats Moonshine.

Wes Ashlock, Abilene, Tex., trained Pedel To The Metall as a two-year-old, then Holmes sent the colt to Banuelos in January 2014, in preparation for limited age event competition. Banuelos and Pedel To The Metall qualified for the NCHA Futurity Semi-Finals, as well as for six major finals in 2015.

“This horse has been ready to offer something like this, and we haven’t been able to get anything done,” said Banuelos. “But we made up for it all tonight.”

Pedel To The Metall is entered for this year’s NCHA Derby, as a condition of purchase for a slot in the Showdown in Cowtown,
The win was worth $60,000 to the 4-year-old Metallic Cat son’s owner, Faith Mountain Ranch, Houston, Tex. (the 2014 NCHA Derby winner’s payout during the Summer Spectacular was $35,457).

Announcing the 2015 Australian NCHA Futurity Open Champion, Heavy Metal (Metallic Cat x Reyk), shown by Todd Graham owned by Jodie Mearns and Chris Ware. This was Metallic Cat’s first limited foal crop in Australia, for us to watch four of our boys offspring in the Open Finals. What an amazing night to have Todd Graham lay down the Championship run on Heavy Metal was over the top! We would not have missed it for the world.

We had so much fun last night here at the PCCHA Core Balance Derby . . . . . In the Derby Open Finals, Cowcat 511 marked a 221.5, was not only Reserve Champion, he was the Metallic Cat Incentive Champion, shown by Wes Galyean and owned by SMF Cutting Horses. Splitting 3rd with a 220 we had Metallic Little Cat with Clay Johnson and Ruby Shadow Cat with Jaime Snider. Followed by Money Making Rose, Pedal To The Medal, Pedaltothemedal, Mootalic Cat, Metallic Pepto and Tallic Cat. In the Open Classic Challenge Finals we had Metalic Al, Metales Cat and Sannman. These Metallic Cats earned $106,372 in sire earnings last night, bringing Metallic Cat’s Sire Earnings to over $4,000,000.

We are elated to announce, that for two years running Metallic Cat is the Top Sire of the Breeders Invitational. With 4 Champions, 5 Reserve Champions and 41 finalists bring home checks totaling $270,237.13, bringing Metallic Cat’s, sire earnings to $3,874,548. Congratulations to all our money earners, we are so proud of each and everyone of you.

Metallic Cat’s reputation as a sire is growing by leaps and bounds, right alongside his offspring’s earnings. At the National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) Super Stakes, which took place March 26-April 18 in Fort Worth, Texas, the stallion’s get surpassed the $3 million mark in a big way. Forty-three horses earned paychecks totaling $553,926, taking Metallic Cat’s Equi-Stat offspring record to $3,534,526.

Metallic Cat’s 2015 NCHA Super Stakes performers were led by Pedaltothemedal (out of Fairlea Magnolia Gal x Colonel Pic). Pedaltothemedal won the Gelding Open Championship and finished 11th in the Open finals under trainer Beau Galyean, whose wife, Ashley Galyean, piloted the horse to the Gelding Non-Pro Championship and the Non-Pro Reserve Championship. Pedaltothemedal walked away with total show earnings of $66,173.

Also at the NCHA Super Stakes, Lindy Burch rode Oxbox Ranch’s Adelle (out of Play Peek A Boon x Freckles Playboy) to a third-place finish in the NCHA Super Stakes Open, banking $38,747 between the semifinals and finals. DB Little Cat (out of Mates Little Cokette x Smart Mate) and Sheridan Clark were second in the Limited Non-Pro and fourth in the Non-Pro, earning $29,329. Metallic Manziel (out of Smart Look N Pepto x Peptoboonsmal) and Tag Rice were Reserve Champions in the Gelding Open and 16th in the Open, banking $29,261.

In all, 20 horses sired by Metallic Cat earned more than $10,000 each at the NCHA Super Stakes. The red roan stallion finished as the show’s leading sire, according to the NCHA.

Owned by Alvin and Becky Fults, of Amarillo, Texas, Metallic Cat’s first foals competed in 2014. Halfway through the season, “Denver” became only the second cutting stallion in history – One Time Pepto was the first – to top $1 million in offspring earnings with his first crop of performers. By the end of 2014, Metallic Cat had surpassed the $2 million mark, with 105 money-earners accumulating $2,027,976. Less than five months later, he’s added another $1.5 million to that total, with 144 money-earners averaging $24,545.

2015 April Texas Horseman Editorial

It’s almost impossible to believe, but 10-year-old cutting horse sire Metallic Cat has just passed the $3 million mark in offspring earnings in an astonishingly short time of nine months.

In June of last year, his offspring collectively earned $1 million in the cutting pen. Then, six months later, at the conclusion of the 2014 NCHA Futurity, his offspring totals jumped to $2 million. And 90 days later, his progeny reached the $3 million mark, officially at $3,092,113. All three milestones were NCHA records, making Metallic Cat the fastest sire to do so in NCHA history.

Metallic Cat was also the talk of the 2014 NCHA Futurity. He had 45 money earners out of 80 offspring entered in the event, giving him an average of $14,682. Metallic Cat also led the list of most offspring entered in the Futurity, which was only his second foal crop. Metallic Cat jumped to the top of the 2014 NCHA Futurity sire list when his 3-year-old offspring posted total earnings of $660,690. He led other sires High Brow Cat, Dual Rey and Smooth As A Cat, which came in second, third and fourth, respectively.

The impressive red roan stallion, sired by High Brow Cat and out of Chers Shadow by Peptoboonsmal, is owned by Alvin and Becky Fults of Amarillo, Texas. He was trained and shown by Beau Galyean to the 2008 NCHA Futurity Open title and currently is NCHA’s second highest money earning stallion, with $637,771 to his name. Entered in 12 events during his show career, he made the finals all 12 times and never lost a cow. He was retired to stud at the end of his 4-year-old year. He was also the 2009 NCHA Horse of the Year and is in the NCHA Hall of Fame.

Metallic Cat got a huge vote of confidence with another record at the NCHA Futurity. One of his 2-year-olds, an eye-catching chestnut colt by the name of Eight Mile, topped the sale at $400,000, while another, Moses Man, a sorrel colt, was third highest seller at $210,000.

Metallic Cat’s ability to sire money earners is not limited to cutting. In 2014, he had the top sire average for 3-year-olds in all divisions in the National Reined Cow Horse Association. He was also the top sire average in the category of all ages, all divisions of the NRCHA. What’s more, Metallic Cat was the top sire of the NRCHA Futurity sale with an average of $50,100.

The story of the Fults’ coming to own Metallic Cat is nearly as amazing as his show and sire records. Alvin didn’t buy him until August of his 3-year-old year. That was just three months before he first walked to the herd at the NCHA Futurity. At the time he was owned by Beau and Ashley Galyean, Alvin’s resident trainer, who had purchased him as a started 2-year-old, and worked him for a year on the Fults’ place in the Panhandle. Beau used his truck as collateral to buy the up and coming stallion in the beginning and when the majority of the money came due, he sold the horse to Alvin to cover the note.

“I bought the horse for myself,” Alvin related. “He was going to be my Non Pro horse at the Futurity. We decided to let Beau show him in the Open and hoped he would make it to the semifinals.”

When Metallic Cat qualified for the semi’s, Alvin withdrew from Non Pro competition. The stallion went on to electrify the crowd with a winning run of 222. “The louder the crowd got, the lower the horse went,” Alvin said.

“You know, when we showed Metallic Cat at the pre works, people told me to put him with an experienced trainer for the Futurity. Beau had just turned in his Non Pro card, and they thought maybe he didn’t have the experience to handle a horse like Metallic Cat. Well, I had watched Beau and that stallion for a year before I bought him and I knew I had the right rider with the right horse.”

Today, Metallic Cat enjoys the life of a well cared for stallion. He’s quietly ridden three days a week around the ranch with a loose rein and no spurs.

“I’ll ride him to check cattle or into the wheat fields,” Alvin revealed. “Sometimes I’ll turnback on him when we’re working horses. There will never be any pressure on him again. He’s earned his easy life.”

When not in his stall, Metallic Cat enjoys a large turnout with full view of several mares. Typical of a young stallion, he calls out and prances and generally draws attention to himself, the way Alvin wants it to be.

“Becky and I feel blessed to own a horse like Metallic Cat,” he said. “Besides owning the one of the next generation of great performance horse sires, his show and performance records allow us to give back to the industry by donating breedings to Horsemen For Christ and the NCHA Youth Cuttings and to the Colorado State University and Texas A&M auction and research programs. He’s a special horse and we enjoy every moment owning him.”

Metallic Cat was the Top Sire of the 2015 NCHA Super Stakes earning $553,926 in sire earnings during the show. His numbers placed him $145,938 over the second highest money earning sire, bringing Metallic Cat’s total sire earnings to $3,600,311. Yes we’re in shock and total amazement at the success Denver’s babies are having in the show pen! We once again would like to thank all the mare owners for believing in Metallic Cat and all the trainers for doing what they do best, without you none of this would be possible. We cannot wait to see what the future might hold for our guy. Truly Blessed!