Sir Long Legs, owned by Lew Hall, Lakeland, Fla, and Austin Shepard pulled out all the stops for a rousing 229-point eleventh hour win, on Sunday, August 6, in the 2017 NCHA Open Derby Finals. Metallic Smart Cat, owned by Cynthia Villa, Chico, Calif., and ridden by Matt Miller, scored 224 points for the reserve championship. While Pharoah And James, with Clint Allen for David and Stacie McDavid, Forth Worth, Tex., and Hashtags, shown by Tatum Rice for Hashtags Ventures, Weatherford, Tex., tied with 223 points to split third and fourth places.
Altogether from a field of 21 finalists, a record eight horses scored 220.5 points or higher.
Shepard and Sir Long Legs, by Highbrow Cat, drew last in the two-set, 21-horse field, which had already seen seven horses score 220.5 points and higher. But Shepard, who had scored 218 points on Tap This early in the first set, took no prisoners. Sir Long Legs’ score of 229 points stands as a new record for the NCHA Derby Open Finals.
Sir Long Legs, reserve champion of the 2016 NCHA Futurity under Shepard, is the current leader among NCHA 4-year-old money earners with $255,544. Lew Hall purchased the colt as a yearling, from his breeder, Cannon Quarter Horses, for $90,000 at Western Bloodstock’s 2014 NCHA Futurity Sales. Sir Long Legs is out of Lil Lena Long Legs LTE $189,672, by Smart Little Lena, and a full brother to Cat Belue LTE $189,189, as well as half-brother to Two Time Dual LTE $123,189.
Austin Shepard is an NCHA Hall of Fame Rider and earner of $6.9 million.
Reserve Derby champion Metallic Smart Cat LTE $42,086, by Metallic Cat, was bred by his owner, Cynthia Villa, out of Smart Jerri Lee LTE $52,721, by Smart Little Jerry, and is a three-quarter brother to Smoothlee As A Cat LTE $54,765, by Smooth As A Cat. Matt Miller showed Metallic Smart Cat as a semi-finalist in the NCHA Futurity, and most notably placed third in the Arbuckle Mountain 4-Year-Old Open Finals, as well as second in the Arbuckle 4-Year-Old Open Gelding and Novice divisions.
Matt Miller, an NCHA Hall of Fame Rider with earning of $2.9 million, also scored 221.5 points to place sixth in the NCHA Derby Finals on Lou Lou Louise, owned by Lannie Louise Mecom, Avondale, Colo.
Pharoah And James, owned and bred by David and Stacie McDavid, Fort Worth, Tex., earned his first paycheck as an NCHA Futurity Open semi-finalist under Clint Allen. Since then, Allen and the gelded son of Hickorys Indian Pep have been finalists in nine major events, including the NCHA Super Stakes, and the Bonanza, where they placed third.
Out of Wise Little Miss LTE $72,567, by Wise Play, Pharoah And James is a full brother to DMAC Wise Guy LTE $73,451, also bred and owned by the McDavids, who own the sire Hickory Indian Pep. In 2016, Stacie McDavid showed DMAC Wise Guy to place second in the NCHA Derby Non-Pro Gelding division, and to win the NCHA Derby Non-Pro Senior title.
Clint Allen, an NCHA Hall of Fame Rider and earner of $4.5 million, won the 2009 NCHA Derby and NCHA Super Stakes on Wood I Never LTE $356,137. He was also reserve champion of the 2006 NCHA Futurity on Hydrive Cat LTE $410,627.
Hashtags LTE $179,446, by Metallic Cat and out of Dual Rey Tag, by Dual Rey, was champion of the NCHA Open Super Stakes with Tatum Rice. His second dam, Playin Tag LTE $220,949, by Playgun, was Open champion of the 2004 NCHA Super Stakes.
Tatum Rice, an NCHA Hall of Fame Rider with $1.5 million in earnings, placed third in the 2013 NCHA Open Futurity aboard Johnny Reyngo and eighth in 2016 on Hashtags.