For Immediate Release

December 13, 2001

From the NATIONAL CUTTING HORSE ASSOCIATION

Contact: Amy Vorhes

817.244.6188 ext. 113

(Fort Worth, TX) -- The field of 268 Amateur riders who entered the 40^th Annual National Cutting Horse Association World Championship Futurity was narrowed to just 16 this afternoon at the completion of the Amateur Semi-Finals. The NCHA Futurity is in its last of 20 days at the Will Rogers Memorial Coliseum in Fort Worth, Texas.

Amateur Semi-Finalists represented states from the California all of the way to Florida, making good use of NCHA Corporate Sponsor American Airlines.

Matt Sullivan of Avon Park, Florida, which is some 1,240 miles from the show in Fort Worth, Texas, stepped up in the Semi-Finals for 219 points and the round win. Sullivan's three-year-old gelding, Dualin At High Noon, has been his ride through three rounds of Amateur cutting in the Futurity, and will be his ticket to compete in the Amateur Finals on Friday, December 14.

Dualin At High Noon is by Dualin Gin out of Cee Little Joan by Cee Bar Quixote. The pair proceeded safely through their first two rounds, marking 213 and 210 in the first and second go-rounds, respectively. Sullivan found the right mix of cows and horsepower to win the Semis, and will be required to do more of the same in order to win the Finals, where all 16 advancing riders will be cutting for the first-place Amateur check of $19,608.

Gene Wollenberg and Zacks Jubilean scored 216.5 points for second place in the Amateur Semi-Finals. Wollenberg is from Wichita Falls, Texas, and qualified for the Semi-Finals with a cumulative score of 426 points.

In addition to the Amateur purse of $232,597, other prizes include a Remington bronze from Sam's Club, Gist Silversmith's trophy buckles, Professional's Choice products, M.L. Leddy's saddles and briefcases, and a score of other items. The $345,000 added money for the NCHA World Championship Futurity is provided by the Fort Worth Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce in cooperation with the City of Fort Worth.

The National Cutting Horse Association's 40^th Annual Futurity will wrap up 20 days of fierce competition on the evening of December 16 with the Open Futurity Finals and Champions Party thereafter where all of the show's champions will be the guests of honor.

In addition to world-class cutting, the NCHA also hosts the Cowboy Christmas Extravaganza trade and gift show, nine cutting horse sales, a Cowboy Santa, and a celebrity cutting. All of the NCHA's sponsors are on hand, including Sam's Club, Chevy Trucks, John Deere, Flowmaster, Sooner Trailers, and many, many more.

For more information about the National Cutting Horse Association, the 40th Annual NCHA World Championship Futurity, or the long list of activities that accompany the 20-day show, please call the NCHA at 817-244-6188 or visit www.nchacutting.com.