Widows Freckles 1994 – 2020

Widows Freckles, 2002 NCHA Eastern Nationals Open and Non-Pro champion, owned by NCHA Hall of Fame inductees David and Stacie McDavid, of Fort Worth, Texas, was put to rest on March 24.
The McDavids, also owners of the stallion Hickorys Indian Pep, purchased Widows Freckles from Robert Middleton in 2006. Bred by the late Franklin Jones Jr., Marshall, Tex., Widows Freckles was sired by Freckles Playboy out of The Widow Wilson, by Son Ofa Doc, and was raised and trained by Son Ofa Doc’s owner Sam Wilson, Pattison, Tex.

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2020 NCHA Eastern Nationals Presented by 6666 Ranch

Missy Jean Etheridge captures NCHA Eastern National Non-Pro championship
Missy Jean Etheridge, Corinth, Miss., scored 224 points riding Cutting Commander on Saturday, March 14, to win the 2019 NCHA Eastern National Non-Pro Finals. Colt Moore, Williston, Fla., showing Highbrow Nadine, claimed the reserve championship with 222 points, while Denise Seiz, Cedartown, Ga., placed third with 217.5 aboard Willie J Rey.
This was Missy Jean Etheridge’s thirty-fourth ride in an NCHA Eastern Nationals division finals and her second win. Her first win came in the 2004 NCHA Eastern Nationals $10,000 Amateur aboard Pepto Jack LTE $33,466, by Peptoboonsmal, following her 2003 reserve championship in the $2,000 Limited Rider Finals on Chloes My Aunt LTE $57,299, by SR Hallmarked. The NCHA earner of $396,242, Etheridge has also competed successfully in NCHA limited age events, including last year, when she showed Rey Too Purdy LTE $59,291, by Dual Smart Rey, to win The Non-Pro 5/6 Classic, and earlier this year when she won the Ike Hamilton Futurity Classic Non-Pro Intermediate with Metallic Royal Mate LTE $98,831, by Metallic Cat.

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2020 Cattlemens Derby & Classic Daily Updates

Lance Cooper wins Cattlemen’s Derby
On Sunday, March 8, riding Wiskeemakesmefriskee LTE $28,547, by Smooth As A Cat, Lance Cooper, Weatherford, Tex., scored 219.5 points to win the Cattlemens' 4-Year-Old Non-Pro Derby. Ryan Rapp, Weatherford, Tex., scored 219 on Too Suen To Drive LTE $18,048, by Boon Too Suen, for the reserve championship, while Brad Wilson, Lone Grove, Okla., aboard Sumkinda Kitkat LTE $5,497, by Kit Kat Sugar, placed third with 218.

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Arbuckle Mountain Futurity Underway

Jarma and Cooper tie for Non-Pro title
Julie Jarma, Whitesboro, Tex., on  Metallic Bonus, and Lance Cooper, Weatherford, Tex., aboard Wiskeemakesmefriskee, tied with 222 points on Friday, February 28, to each earn $11,683, as co-champions of the 2020 Arbuckle Mountain 4-Year-Old Non-Pro Futurity. Ty Moore, Madill, Okla., scored 219 points for the third-place payout of $7,807, riding Tweezin My Brow.
Julie Jarma the NCHA earner of $590,414, won last year’s Brazos Bash Non-Pro Classic on Blackish LTE $180,399, by Hottish, as well as the West Texas Classic, and the reserve championship of the Brazos Bash Non-Pro Classic on Hott Heels, by Hottish. Metallic Bonus LTE $16,061, by Metallic Cat, is the first NCHA money earner out of the Dual Rey daughter Reys My Way LTE $10,827.

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2020 Bonanza Open Classic champion Metallic Drifter

Metallic Drifter LTE $144,665, owned by Jim Vangilder, Weatherford, Tex., and shown by Matt Gaines, scored 223 points on Friday, February 14, to win the 2020 Bonanza Open Classic, in Belton, Tex. The 6-year-old Metallic Cat gelding, one of 15 finalists, also earned top money in the Open Gelding and Open $25,000 Novice divisions, for a grand total, including the Classic Open Finals payout, of $22,682.

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Rising Cutting Horse Star Hottish Humanely Euthanized

Photo by Alan Gold Photo, courtesy of NCHA
Photo by Alan Gold Photo, courtesy of NCHA

Hottish, a rapidy rising star among young cutting horse sires, was humanely euthanized on February 7, at the Springtown, Texas ranch of his owners, Dustin and Deena Adams. At the time of his death, Hottish ranked fourth only to Metallic Cat, Dual Rey, and High Brow Cat, among 2020’s leading sires. His three lifetime performing crops had also produced earners of over $3.3 million, for an average of $31,709, including 2017 NCHA Futurity Open champion Dual Reyish LTE $383,364 and 2018 NCHA Open Horse of the Year and Super Stakes champion Cool N Hot LTE $358,835.

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Clean Sweep for Austin Shepard with Kinky Bootz

The 2020 Augusta Futurity concluded on Saturday, January 25, with the Open Futurity, where Kinky Bootz, owned and bred by Glenn Drake, Napa, Calif., scored 226 points to carry NCHA Hall of Fame Rider Austin Shepard to his sixth Augusta 4-Year-Old Futurity win. On the heels of his 5/6-Year-Old win aboard Dual Reyish, on Friday night, the 2020 Futurity win also gives Shepard his second Augusta Open Futurity sweep. Shepard  won 4-Year-Old and 5/6 Year-Old championships in 2014, riding CD Kual Gun and Bamacat, respectively.

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