A Smooth Criminal and Kyle Manion edged out Kaitlyn Larsen and Laredo Montana to win the NCHA Classic Challenge Non-Pro last night at the NCHA Summer Spectacular, presented by Great American Insurance, with 221.5 points over 221.
Little Bow Peepto with Alexa Stent, and That Catomine, under Kristen Galyean, tied for third with 218 points.
“After the first cow, I knew I had momentum going, and I definitely wanted to show the judges that I wanted to win,” said Manion, who worked midway through the second set.
“I couldn’t have asked him to have been better. The cows were quick and he was quick, and yet he has the ability to slow down and and wait on a cow, and then pick it right back up and be really smart.”
Manion, who owns A Smooth Criminal’s sire, Smooth As A Cat, had his eye on the colt, when breeder Megan Miller consigned A Smooth Criminal to the NCHA Futurity Sales.
“I was running late and I missed him in the sale,” said Manion, who was a fan of A Smooth Criminal’s dam, Carolena Moon, shown by Megan Merrill Miller.
Ultimately, A Smooth Criminal wound up in training for reined cowhorse competition with Todd Bergen, who wasted no time in calling his friend, top cutting trainer Matt Gaines, to let him know that the gelding belonged in the cutting pen.
Gaines showed A Smooth Criminal as a finalist for owner Roxanne Copsell in seven major events, before Manion purchased the 4-year-old as a non-pro mount in the summer of 2010, and promptly won the PCCHA Non-Pro Stakes, in addition to the PCCHA Non-Pro Gelding Stakes.
But shortly after his return to Texas, A Smooth Criminal colicked and underwent surgery to save his life. The NCHA Super Stakes, in April 2011, where he placed third with Manion in the Non-Pro Classic, was his first event in 2011.
The HV-1 outbreak, following the Super Stakes, kept Manion and As Smooth As A Criminal at home, until this week.
“He’s a fun horse to be around no matter what you are doing,” said Manion. “Anything you want to do, he’s going to do it. We tried to be smooth in the go-rounds because this is only his second show back.”
See more in today’s Daily Chatter. Results.