FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 26, 2005 Contact: Kristina Gardner (817) 244-6188 x 121
Cat T Masterson, Sandy Bonelli lead Western Horseman Cup Spring Season
Five-time winner remains in the
lead
(Fort Worth, TX)--Cat T Masterson, winner of the Bonanza Cutting, topped the Open division qualifiers for the Quarter Horse News Spring Season of the 2005 Western Horseman Cup NCHA Championship Series, while Sandy Bonelli, winner of five major events, ran away with the lead in the Non-Pro division.
Inaugurated in 2003, the Western Horseman Cup features a $250,000-added finals at the Augusta Futurity in January for horses that have qualified by earning points at existing limited age events across the United States and Canada throughout the year. The 2005 championship series encompasses 45 events with nearly $6 million in added money. The series is split into the Quarter Horse News Spring Season, which concluded May 22; the Horsecity.com Summer Season, which runs through September 18; and the Westernhorseman.com Fall Season which concludes November 12.
The Quarter Horse News Spring Season concluded with the Pacific Coast Derby on May 22. The top five Open horses and Non-Pro riders earn an invitation to the Western Horseman Cup finals.
The remaining 10 slots in the Open and Non-Pro finals will emerge from the Horsecity.com Summer Season of the series which begins May 25 with the Breeders' Invitational in Reno, Nevada, and the Westernhorseman.com Fall Season which opens with the Music City Futurity September 12.
Spring point leader Cat T Masterson is a High Brow Cat stallion ridden by Tag Rice for Jack and Susan Waggoner of Bridgeport, Texas. He earned 230 points by winning the Bonanza Cutting in Abilene, Texas, taking second at the Memphis Futurity and making the finals at the NCHA Futurity, the Abilene Spectacular and the Augusta Futurity. Rice won the inaugural Western Horseman Cup riding Chiquita Pistol.
NCHA Super Stakes Champion One Time Pepto, ridden by Matt Gaines for Jeffrey Matthews of Warsaw, North Carolina, was the second highest-scoring Open horse with 205 points. The Peptoboonsmal stallion was also a finalist at the Abilene Spectacular, the Augusta Futurity and the Bonanza Cutting.
Quintan Blue, the Reserve Champion of the NCHA Futurity, earned 195 points for owner Jim Vangilder of Jackson, Missouri. Roger Wagner rode the Mecom Blue mare to the finals at the Abilene Spectacular, Augusta Futruity and the NCHA Super Stakes.
Rockin By Choice and Spots Hot each earned 175 points. Rockin By Choice, ridden by Paul Hansma for Skip and Elizabeth Queen of Lipan, Texas, was the Abilene Spectacular winner, Reserve Champion at the Super Stakes, and a Memphis Futurity finalist. The gelding is by SR Instant Choice.
NCHA Futurity Champion Spots Hot is a son of Chula Dual owned and ridden by Wesley Galyean of Ardmore, Oklahoma. He also won the Memphis Futurity.
In the Non-Pro ranks Sandy Bonelli of Weatherford, Texas, rode Midnight Rondeevous and Sues Barn Cat to earn 475 points with wins at the NCHA Futurity, San Diego Cutting by the Sea, Bonanza Cutting, NCHA Super Stakes and Pacific Coast Derby. She also made the finals of the Abilene Spectacular.
Chad Bushaw and Mary Ann Rapp, both of Weatherford, Texas, each earned 255 points to tie for second in the Spring Season standings.
Riding A Cat Above and Shortys Last Stretch, Bushaw earned points at the Abilene Spectacular, Augusta Futurity, Memphis Futurity, Bonanza and the Super Stakes.
Riding Ruby Doo Too and MH Moneys On The Way, Rapp picked up points at the NCHA Futurity, Abilene, Augusta, Memphis, the Bonanza and the Super Stakes.
Memphis Futurity winner Janet Trefethen of Napa, California, earned 205 points riding Wholly Cats to the Reserve Championship at the Pacific Coast Derby, plus top-10 finishes at the NCHA Futurity and Super Stakes.
Augusta Futurity Champion Jim Vangilder of Jackson, Missouri, rode Justa Lil CD and Quintan Blue, earning points at the NCHA Futurity and Super Stakes.
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