The stage was set on Thanksgiving Day, after three days of Open second go-round competition, when 64 horses with combined scores of 435.5 points or more qualified for the NCHA Futurity Open Semi-finals, to be held on Saturday, December 12 at Will Rogers Memorial Coliseum in Fort Worth. In addition, eligible horses with 433.5 points or more qualified for the Open Limited Finals, to be held on Monday, November 30.
On Wednesday, November 25, Reymiro, shown by Shane Carlon, scored 221.5 points to earn an aggregate of 440.5 points and joined high-scoring horses from the previous days – Fancy Deville under Austin Shepard (443.5); Catolena Cashin In (443) with Tarin Rice; Timeless Cat (441.5) with Tarin Rice; and Aspenglow (440.5) under Sean Flynn – as one of the Top 5 highest-scoring horses to advance.
Owned by Richard Irby, Sulpher Springs,Tex., and purchased by Irby as a yearling in the 2018 NCHA Futurity Sales, Reymiro, by Dual Rey, was bred by Linda Holmes, out of the Peptoboonsmal daughter Nurse Nita, whose dam, High Brows Nurse, produced 14 earners of $712,253. High Brows Nurse, in turn, is a half-sister to Dual Rey, cutting’s #2 all-time leading sire.
Reymiro is a full brother to the gelding Rey Ahead, who was third-placed and won the Gelding division of the 2018 West Texas Futurity.
Shane Carlon, the NCHA earner of $98,015, also qualified for the Futurity Open Semi-Finals with 438 points (219 and 219) showing Sanndee Light, a Sannman daughter owned by Burten and Wendy Johnson, Perrin, Texas. Carlon qualified for the Open Limited Finals on Reymiro and Sanndee Light, as well .
Chaty Catty, shown by James Payne, with an aggregate of 440 points (220.5 and 219.5), advanced to the Semi-Finals as the high-scoring Gelding. Owned by James and Nadine Payne and bred by Nadine, Chaty Catty, by Catty Hawk, is out of Velvets Best Shot LTE $53,156, and is a half-brother to Velvets Revolver LTE $278,225, shown by Nadine to win the 2016 NCHA Super Stakes Non-Pro championship, as well as other major Open and Non-Pro events under the Paynes.
James Payne, the NCHA Hall of Fame earner of $3,665,235, was an NCHA Futurity finalist in 2019, placing seventh on Stole A Kiss LTE $124,361, by Metallic Cat, for Kathleen Moore, Madill, Okla. He also won the 2019 Open Gelding division on When I Move I Groove LTE $29,078, also owned by Moore and sired by Metallic Cat.