Kyle Manion made his ride aboard Smooth Going Cat count, with a 220-point performance Thursday, in the first go-round of the XTO Energy NCHA Super Stakes Classic Non-Pro.
“We kind of held off on showing her in the non-pro because we wanted her to be an open mare,” said Manion of the 5-year-old Smooth As A Cat daughter, who has earned nearly $200,000 under her trainer, Matt Miller.
Miller showed Smooth Going Cat to a third-place finish in the 2009 NCHA Futurity, and last year showed her in the finals of five more major events.
Earlier this week, when a tough break took Miller and Smooth Going Cat out of contention in the Open, Manion purchased a Non-Pro slot and cut one cow on his mare in a practice season.
“I was a little nervous today wanting to do well on her,” Manion said. “She feels so much like her father. They’re really a lot alike.”
2005 NCHA Horse of the Year Smooth As A Cat won 12 major limited age events, among the 43 that he qualified for, including six with Manion — the rest under his trainer, Matt Gaines.
Manion’s stallion is also sire of 2010 NCHA Horse of the Year LHR Smooth Jamie May, shown by Phil Hanson for South Lazy H Ranch, and he was ranked #3 among leading sires of 2010 money earners, with over $2.3 million for the year in offspring earnings.
Widman’s Purdy Feather
April Widman and her 6-year-old mare Purdy Feather finally had a chance to test their teamwork in Fort Worth.
Their efforts paid off with 218 points and a berth in the second go-round. But the Super Stakes will be the last show until later in the year for Widman, who is expecting a baby early in September.
“I was going to sell her, but I just can’t,” said Widman of her Cats Red Feather daughter, who was trained and shown by Clint Allen in open competition at four.
Widman purchased Purdy Feather late in 2009, but the fit wasn’t quite right and Widman, who along with her husband, Joe, work for the family business, Barnmaster, founded by April’s father, Skip Hames, had limited time to show.
“This year it finally clicked,” said Widman. “But I couldn’t show her until now because I was sick for the first trimester of my pregnancy and now that I’m feeling better, I’m starting to get off balance (in the saddle) a little bit.
“I think I’ll do some weekend shows next year. I’m not all about aged events – I don’t think horses fall off the planet once they turn seven.”
Smith reaps Third Cutting
Smooth Going Cat wasn’t the only horse to carry its owner to the herd for the first time yesterday.
Third Cutting, who has dominated open competition in Will Rogers Coliseum for the past two years and has earned nearly $500,000 under Boyd Rice, scored 215.5 points with owner Carl Smith.
“I was a little nervous, but he was good and I had a big time,” said Smith, who filled a slot after Third Cutting, who had scored 220.5 points in the first go-round, ran into trouble in the second.
“It happens,” said Smith of Third Cutting’s misfortune in the Open. “We’re just not used to it happening to him.”