Saturday, December 1
Hesa Belle Cat, ridden by Mike Wood for Butlin Ranches of Edmonton, Alberta, won both working rounds, and the pencil finals in the $5,000 Novice at the Mercuria NCHA World Finals in Fort Worth Saturday. In addition to his World Finals win, he sealed the deal on the 2018 World Championship.
Hesa Belle Cat put together scores of 224 / 225 / 449 to earn $4,593 for the show title. He earned $58,442 for the year-end World Championship. Earlier in the week, Wood, an NCHA Hall of Fame Rider, won both the World Finals and the World Championship in the $25,000 Novice with Little Jackson Cat.
Bred by River Bend Ranch, Hesa Belle Cat is a 7-year-old gelding by High Brow Cat out of RBR Lady Belle, by Shorty Lena. RBR Lady Belle won multiple major aged-events and earned $98,000. Hesa Belle Cat, who also qualified for the $5,000 Novice Non-Pro at the World Finals with Linda Butlin, has now earned more than $169,000.
The Reserve World Champion, with earnings of $42,742, is Thiskittywearsacrown, a 5-year-old WR This Cats Smart x CDs Masterpiece mare owned by Michelle LeMaster and shown by Gavin Jordan.
The Mercuria NCHA World Finals went down to the wire in the $50,000 Amateur division, with Kathy Bro of Roosevelt, Utah prevailing on Superfly.
Bro won the first round with a 222.5, and came back with a 218.5 on Saturday for a cumulative score of 441. But Mia Webster and What About Blue posted a 221, the same score they had in Round 1, to win the second round and the non-working finals.
However, Bro had earned $3,981 at the show, to win the World Finals by just $92 over Webster.
An NCHA earner of $131,000, Kathy Bro finished the point year in 12th place in the World Standings, and moved up to eighth at the World Finals. Bro was an Amateur and Unlimited Amateur finalist with Dual N Gritty earlier this year at the Pacific Coast Derby.
Superfly was bred by Dave and Georgia Husby by Smooth As A Cat out of Lenas Horn. The 6-year-old gelding has won Limited Open championships with Hayden Upton at the NCHA Super Stakes Classic, Cotton Stakes and Brazos Bash.
Susan Dunne of Clinton, North Carolina, won the World Championship with earnings of $38,572. Dunne, who won the $15,000 Amateur championship at the NCHA Eastern Nationals in 2012, is an NCHA earner of $113,366. She rode One More Time Darlin, her One Time Pepto gelding, at the World Finals. She also rode Hal Raiser during the regular point year.
Mia Webster of Portland, Ore., earned the Reserve World Championship, showing What About Blue, a High Brow CD gelding, at the World Finals. She moved up a notch in the standings at the World Finals to earn $30,778 for the year. She also rode What Daddy Don Know during the point year.
In the $25,000 Novice Non-Pro, Dawn Chapman, riding her $25,000 Novice World Champion Little Jackson Cat, marked 221 to lead the second round on Saturday, but first-round leader Amanda Smith of Wembley, Alberta emerged with the top cumulative score of 437 and $3,861 for the World Finals championship.
Smith, an NCHA earner of $133,000, won the $15,000 Novice Non-Pro championship at the NCHA Western Nationals in 2012 with Whirl N Play. She won the 7-Up championship at last year’s Calgary Futurity with Im Short And Smooth.
Im Short And Smooth was bred by Pine Island Ranch. The 10-year-old gelding is by Smooth As A Cat out of Chiquita Shorty, by Shorty Lena. He was an NCHA Futurity Open finalist with Michael Cooper in 2011, and he has earned more than $138,000.
Amanda Smith ranked ninth in the World Standings coming into the World Finals, and she wound up in fifth place.
Priscilla Wilson of Unadilla, Georgia and Yadayadayadatime won the World Championship with total earnings of $25,829. Wilson, an NCHA Non-Pro Hall of Fame inductee, earned checks at 37 shows with Yadayadayadatime during the point year.
The 6-year-old gelding was bred by Vick Pannell by One Time Pepto out of Rio CD Yadayadayada. He’s a half-brother to NCHA Futurity Open reserve champion Yadacat, with earnings of $107,000.
LHR Who Dat Cat, ridden by Emily Clark of Bend, Ore., took the Reserve World Championship with earnings of $24,028. Bred by Bobbie Howe, LHR Who Dat Cat is an 8-year-old gelding by High Brow Cat out of Rey Jay Play, with earnings of more than $86,000.
Dannica Percevich of Belle Fourche, South Dakota, swept every round of the World Finals and won the World Championship in the $15,000 Amateur division.
She strung together scores of 225 / 222/ 447 to earn $2,820 at the show, and $17,745 for the year.
Percevich is an NCHA earner of $54,000. She won the NCHA Denver Nationals last year in the $50,000 Amateur on Imasmoothlittlecat, and this week she secured the Reserve World Champion’s title in the $35,000 Non-Pro.
Wild Haired Lilly is a 10-year-old mare bred by Pat Fitzgerald by Wild Haired Cat out of Lilly Mate, by Smart Mate. She has earned more than $62,000. Percevich also rode Imasmoothlittlecat during the regular point year.
Madison Melasky of Groesbeck, Tex., earned $11,305 for the year to take the Reserve World Championship. She rode Two Time Dual at the World Finals, but rode Smartys Star during the regular point year.