May 12, 2003

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Amy Vorhes

817.244.6188 ext. 113

WESTERN HORSEMAN CUP UPDATE:

Futurity Champions lead first season field of Finals qualifiers

Chiquita Pistol and Mary Ann Rapp finish at the top of the chart

(Fort Worth, TX) — The first season of the newly-created Western Horseman Cup wrapped up on May 10, with seven “Open Division” horses and five Non-Professional riders qualifying for the rich $250,000 Championship Finals scheduled to be held in January 2004 in Augusta, Georgia.

The Western Horseman Cup program was unveiled at the 2002 Chevy Trucks / NCHA World Championship Futurity last December.

The series brings a new continuity to the limited age cutting horse circuit by adding seasons, and tracking results. The five Open horses (plus ties) with the highest point total and the five Non-Professional riders with the highest point total at the end of each of three seasons will be invited to participate in a newly-created Finals during the 2004 Augusta Futurity in January. Those qualifying horses and riders will cut one time with a total of $250,000 in prize money on the line.

The Western Horseman Cup was created under the support and direction of longtime cutter W.S. Morris, III. Morris’ Cowboy Publishing Group publishes Western Horseman Magazine and Quarter Horse News, and operates the equine web destination, Horsecity.com. The CPG publications, as well as the NCHA’s official magazine, the Cutting Horse Chatter, and newspapers across the country, carry results and updates for the Cup.

As it so happened, the champions of the season’s first event – the 2002 Chevy Trucks / NCHA World Championship Futurity – were also the leaders of the Quarter Horse News Spring Season in the championship series.

In the Open, Tooter Dorman’s four-year-old mare, Chiquita Pistol, distanced the field with 375 points at the conclusion of the season. Ridden by Tag Rice, Chiquita Pistol earned 100 points at the NCHA Futurity, 75 points at the Abilene Futurity, another 75 points at the Augusta Futurity, and 100 points at the Flowmaster/NCHA Super Stakes. All of those points were accumulated as first place wins. The pair also picked up an additional 25 points at the Memphis Futurity. The owner lives in Oakwood, Texas.

Second place at the conclusion of the Quarter Horse News Spring Season was TR Dual Rey, ridden by Lloyd Cox and owned by Holmes & Rollins of Longmont, Colorado. Cox rode the four-year-old Dual Rey stallion for a total of 235 points in the Western Horseman Cup series. TR Dual Rey was also second behind Chiquita Pistol in the 2003 Flowmaster/NCHA Super Stakes.

Seven horses qualified to compete in the $250,000 Western Horseman Cup finals through the Quarter Horse News Spring Season. They include: Meradas Rockalena, ridden by Boyd Rice and owned by Gary & Kathy Benton of Andover, Kansas, with 170 points; Play Peek A Boon, ridden by Lindy Burch and owned by Oxbow Ranch of Weatherford, Texas, with 150 points. There was a three-way tie for fifth place – each with 145 points: CD Lights, ridden by Winston Hansma and owned by Hansma & Motes of Weatherford, Texas; Livin La Vida Loca, ridden by Jody Galyean and owned by Steven Feiner of Los Angeles, California; and Mr Jay Bar Cat, ridden by Matt Gaines and owned by Crystal Creek Ranch of Aledo, Texas.

In the Non-Pro division, Mary Ann Rapp held a tremendous lead. Rapp rode three horses throughout the season to accumulate 495 points. Her Futurity-winning ride, Little Janey Lena, helped her with 210 points; CD Grumpy Doc helped her with 50; and Moody Blue Boon was her ride for another 235 points. All three horses are owned jointly by Mary Ann and her husband, Phil, who live in Weatherford, Texas.

Second in the Quarter Horse News Spring Season Non-Pro was Scott Ferguson, who earned 360 points riding Royalty Cat and Turtle Angel. Ferguson is from Hempstead, Texas. Third was a tie between Chad Bushaw and Lewie Wood, each with 300 points. Bushaw of Poolville, Texas, earned his points riding CD Thomas Crown and Ipanema. Wood, of Stephenville, Texas, rode Peppy Plays For Cash. Wood and Peppy Plays For Cash picked up 100 of those points for being Non-Pro champions at the 2003 NCHA Super Stakes. Elizabeth Queen of Allendale, South Carolina, secured her spot in the Western Horseman Cup finals with 240 points riding Smart And Dark and Zee Dually. Queen tied Rapp for second place at the Super Stakes, where each earned 75 points.

Open horses and Non-Pro riders can only qualify once for the Western Horseman Cup finals. In the remaining two seasons, ten other horses and riders (plus ties) will qualify. The National Cutting Horse Association tracked points for 169 Open horses and 89 Non-Pro riders during the first season of championship series cutting.

The sport of cutting has roots in Western ranching traditions, where good horses were a necessity for everyday ranch work and cattle handling. The National Cutting Horse Association was formed in 1946 by a group of cowboys and ranchers who wanted to promote cutting competition, standardize rules and preserve the cutting horses' Western heritage. Today, the Fort Worth-based NCHA represents over 14,000 people and oversees more than 1,400 NCHA-approved shows with more than $26 million in total prize money awarded annually.

For a complete list of events, results, points, rules and running totals, just visit www.westernhorsemancup.com or check your favorite cutting horse publication!

Official Western Horseman Cup Points Update

As of 5-12-03

The Western Horseman Cup is a new point series established by Cowboy Publishing Group and the National Cutting Horse Association that will pay out $250,000 to 4-year-old cutting horses entered in NCHA-approved aged event competition.

OPEN POINTS

THESE HORSES ARE QUALIFIED TO COMPETE IN
THE WESTERN HORSEMAN CUP FINALS FROM THE FIRST SEASON.

WH Cup points	Horse	Rider	Owner
375	Chiquita Pistol	Tag Rice, Buffalo, TX	Tooter Dorman, Oakwood, TX
235	TR Dual Rey	Lloyd Cox, Fort Morgan, CO	Holmes & Rollins, Longmont, CO
170	Meradas Rockalena	Boyd Rice, Spearman, TX	Gary & Kathy Benton, Andover, KS
150	Play Peek A Boon	Lindy Burch, Weatherford, TX	Oxbow Ranch, Weatherford, TX
145	Cd Lights	Winston Hansma, Weatherford, TX	Motes / Hansma, Weatherford, TX
145	Livin La Vida Loca	Jody Galyean, Ardmore, OK	Steven Feiner, Los Angeles, CA
145	Mr Jay Bar Cat	Matt Gaines, Weatherford, TX	Crystal Creek Ranch, Aledo, TX

NON-PRO POINTS

THESE RIDERS ARE QUALIFIED TO COMPETE IN
THE WESTERN HORSEMAN CUP FINALS FROM THE FIRST SEASON.

WH Cup points	Rider	Horses	Owner
495	Mary Ann Rapp	Little Janey Lena, Moody Blue Boon, CD Grumpy Doc	Phil & Mary Ann Rapp, Weatherford, TX
360	Scott Ferguson	Royalty Cat, Turtle Angel	Scott Ferguson, Hempstead, TX
300	Chad Bushaw	CD Thomas Crown, Ipanema	Chad Bushaw, Poolville, TX
300	Lewie H. Wood	Peppy Plays For Cash	Lewie & Janie Wood, Stephenville, TX
240	Elizabeth Queen	Smart And Dark, Zee Dually	Skip & Elizabeth Queen, Allendale, SC