Indian Rick, with a 223-point victory in the NCHA Summer Spectacular Classic Challenge, finally had the chance to live up to the faith that his trainer, Jason Clark, always had in him.
The win was all the sweeter in a celebrated field of money earners, where Indian Rick had drawn the dreaded “one hole.”
“Jason did what you’re supposed to do when you’re first with a group of horses like this,” said Phil Hanson who scored 222 points for the reserve championship on Pounce, the 2010 NCHA Derby reserve champion. “He put a run down and the rest of us had to come after him. And we came as strong as we could.”
Owners David and Stacie McDavid of Fort Worth met Clark and Indian Rick in the winner’s circle, after Stacie hurriedly borrowed a pair of boots to navigate the sandy arena.
“I wore platform shoes – I just wasn’t expecting this,” said Stacie. “I knew he was capable of winning, but it is so unusual for a horse that is first in the first bunch.
Two of the heavy hitters that aimed at Indian Rick’s score and missed were Third Cutting and Dont Look Twice, each with earnings of over $500,000. Dont Look Twice placed third with 221 points, and Third Cutting, champion of the 2009 NCHA Derby and the 2010 NCHA Classic Challenge champion tied for fourth with 220 points.
“I’ve always loved him,” said Clark of Indian Rick. “He’s a little horse, but his heart is bigger than he is. It’s always weighed heavy on my heart that I never got the chance to really show people how great he is.”
Indian Rick and Clark fell victims to a renegade cow in the first go-round of the NCHA Futurity, then made the finals of the Augusta Futurity, where Indian Rick injured a suspensory ligament and had to be laid off. He came back to make the finals of the Super Stakes Classic; the Classic Challenge is his first show since then.
It was Clark who engineered the mating that produced Indian Rick for former owner Darren Blanton. When Blanton reduced his show string and Clark went to work for the McDavids, Blanton gave Indian Rick to the couple, knowing that Clark would be able to show the gelding. The gift was all the more special because the McDavids also own Indian Rick’s sire, Hickorys Indian Pep.
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