Colleen Pearse $50,000 Amateur champion
Colleen Pearse, Sturgeon County, Alberta, Can., and her gelding Reys Hot Wheels, fifth-placed in last Friday’s $2,000 Limit Rider Finals, moved up in class on Monday with a 219.5-point win in the 2016 $50,000 Amateur Finals at the NCHA Scottsdale National Championships. Kimberly Irons, San Jose, Calif., winner of the $50,000 Amateur go-round, marked 219 on 7-year-old Caviar Cat LTE $81,037, by High Brow Cat, to claim the reserve championship, and Nate Valley, Encinitas, Calif., placed third with 218 points riding 7-year-old Two Smart Cat LTE $78,406, by WR This Cats Smart.

In addition to their showing in last week’s $2,000 Limit Rider Finals, Pearse and Reys Hot Wheels also placed sixth last December in the NCHA World Finals $2,000 Limit Rider division, and Pearse showed Sway Cat as a finalist in $35,000 Non-Pro division of last year’s NCHA Western Nationals.

Reys Hot Wheels LTE $159,440, an 11-year-old gelding sired by Dual Rey, was a consistent non-pro limited age event finalist for Suzanne Rodoni-Silverberg, who showed him as reserve 4-Year Old Non-Pro champion at the Pacific Coast Stakes, among other major events.Tim Smith also showed the gelding as an open finalist, including a win in the South Point Winter Open Gelding Championship.

Kim Adolf wins $5,000 Novice Non-Pro
Kim Adolf, Morristown, Ariz., claimed the $5,000 Novice Non-Pro championship with a 218-point win aboard Athenitall, while Christina Delpozo, McClave, Colo., went reserve with 217.5 points on Im Countin Katz. Janice Eaton, Peachland, British Columbia, and Michelle LeMaster, Las Vegas, Nev., tied for third with 216 points on Smooth As I Can and Thiskittywearsacrown, respectively.

Adolf and 6-year-old gelding Athenitall, by Athena Puddy Cat, were finalists in three divisions of last year’s NCHA Western Nationals – the Non-Pro, the $15,000 Non-Pro Novice and the $5,000 Non-Pro Novice. Adolf, the NCHA earner of $209,441, also won the 2009 NCHA $15,000 Novice Non-Pro World Championship riding Rumba Boogie, as well as the NCHA Western National Non-Pro Championship on Shesa Silver Spoon, in 2011.

Christina Delpozo, the NCHA earner of $41,882, showed RN Curly As A Cat to place fourth in last year’s NCHA Western Nationals $35,000 Non-Pro division. Five-year-old Im Countin Katz, by Im Countin Checks, had previously earned $3,287 in non-restricted competition.

Michelle LeMaster, who won the 2016 Pacific Coast Futurity Amateur Unlimited title on Thiskittywearsacrown, is the NCHA lifetime earner of $307,376. Four-year-old Thiskittywearsacrown LTE $18,232, by WR This Cats Smart, also placed sixth with Gavin Jordan in the 2016 El Rancho Futurity.

Janice Eaton is the NCHA earner of $287,813. Her 8-year-old mare, Smooth As I Can LTE $139,463, by Smooth As A Cat, launched her career as open champion of the 2012 West Texas Futurity with Matt Miller and carried Eaton as a finalist in five limited age events, including fourth place in the 2012 Pacific Coast Futurity Non-Pro Limited.

Israel Valles tops $35,000 Non-Pro Finals
Israel Valles, Mesilla Park, New Mexico, scored a decisive 221-point win aboard Smokem Jo Lena in the $35,000 Non-Pro Finals. Jason Simmons, Parker, Colo., earned reserve with 219 points on Primo Oakleys, and Lauren McIntire, Santa Barbara, Calif., placed third with 218.5 points riding Peptos Chic Olena.

Israel Valles made his first mark in NCHA competition as a 2015 NCHA World Finals qualifier with Justa Cat Sprat in the $2,000 Limited Rider class. His mount in the Scottsdale Nationals, 9-year-old Smokem Jo Lena LTE $43,985, by Joes Midnight Son, placed third in the 2012 Southern Futurity Non-Pro division with Harris Shepard, and was a $35,000 Non-Pro finalist under Betsy Parker in last year’s NCHA Western Nationals.

Jason Simmons rode Primo Oakleys LTE $49,053, a 2005 mare sired by Teninas First, as a Junior Youth finalist in the 2015 and 2013 NCHA Western Nationals. Jason has NCHA earnings of $6,412.

Lauren McIntire, NCHA earner of $29,269, won the Scottsdale Nationals $35,000 Non-Pro go-round with 221 points on 11-year-old Peptos Chic Olena LTE $152,034, by Sweet Lil Pepto.