This Cats Max and Travis Rempel marked 225 to win the Mercuria NCHA World Series of Cutting at the Calgary Stampede on July 13. Carol Ward won her third Non-Pro Mercuria at Calgary, setting a record.
This Cats Max is bred and owned by by Doug Wiens of Lindell Beach, British Columbia. The 7-year-old is by WR This Cats Smart out of PF Docs Med, by Peppys Formula. Dustin Gonnet won the Calgary Derby and Silver Slate Futurity with the gelding. His latest win takes him over the $100,000 mark in career earnings.
Rempel was the only rider with two horses in the finals. He also placed third on Suzie Blue, a Mecom Blue mare owned by James Mann of Abbotsford, British Columbia.
This was Rempel’s biggest win so far, with his finals checks taking his earnings over $79,000. He has previously been a finalist at the Calgary and Canadian Supreme limited age events.
Jason Taylor and Cats In Ya Dreams marked 222 to place second in the Open finals for Carol Ward of Rancho Murieta, California.
Ward became the first Non-Pro to win three championships at one location in the Mercuria NCHA World Series.
She marked 221 on Spooked By A Cat to earn $10,936. She had previously won at Calgary in 2011 and 2012 riding Lil Dulce Lu.
Spooked By A Cat is a 10-year-old gelding bred by Jeff Barnes by Cat Ichi out of $1.3 million producer San Starlight. His five half- or three-quarter siblings that have six-figure earnings include Spookys Cash ($284,000), Spookys Smarty Pants ($230,000), Spookys Cat Deville ($195,000), Spookys Catmando ($165,000) and Spookystimetoshine ($107,000).
Spooked By A Cat has now earned more than $264,000. Ward, an NCHA Non-Pro Hall of Fame inductee, celebrated her birthday on July 11, the same day she qualified for the Mercuria finals.
Sixteen-year-old Andrew Viola of Fort Worth, Texas, placed second in the Non-Pro finals with a 216 on Louellas Cat. The 9-year-old mare by High Brow Cat out of Louella Again, has earned more than $299,000. She was a two-time Mercuria Open champion in recent years with Lindy Burch at El Rancho Futurity. Viola’s $8,702 check made it his biggest payday yet.