Look out for little sister.
All Spice, younger sister to some of the hottest cutting horses in recent years, showed her big brothers she is something to be reckoned with when she and trainer Adan Banuelos won the 2020 National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) Futurity Open Championship.
The victory by the red roan daughter of Equi-Stat Elite $3 Million Sire Once In A Blu Boon in the biggest prize in the sport of cutting came during an action-packed finals on Sunday, Dec. 13 at Will Rogers Memorial Center in Fort Worth, Texas.
It was the first NCHA Open win for Banuelos, who had placed second the past two years — with one of those runner-up finishes coming with All Spice’s full brother, Badboonarising. This year, Banuelos and All Spice earned the win with a score of 224, one point more than Reserve Champions Bugattii and Wesley Galyean.
Banuelos was quick to give credit to All Spice for the win, and express his thanks to her owners, Holmes/Hill Partnership, for sending him the royally bred prospect.
“She’s a big strong, smart mare; very smart about a cow and she can do it all,” he said.
He said the mare showed patience throughout her run, and did so in some spots where displaying such control can be extremely difficult for a such young horse.
“She really felt comfortable getting on both sides of the cow and looking straight at it when it was time,” Banuelos said. “Those cows felt like I was a fence, and she’d have a look [at the cow] in the middle, which is a beautiful thing. And, she’s got a very unique way of moving and it’s honestly probably the smoothest thing ever.”
Twenty-three horses made the finals for the event, working their way through the go-rounds and semifinals to earn a spot in the coveted finale.
All Spice’s Pedigree
All Spice’s mother, Show Biz Kitty, was already a million dollar producer before her daughter grabbed the biggest prize in all of cutting. In fact, the mare’s leading earner, Rollz Royce ($353,872, by Dual Smart Rey), appeared in the opening ceremonies of this year’s Futurity to accept his award for being inducted into the NCHA Horse Hall of Fame.
The mare’s second-leading earner was the aforementioned Badboonarising, the 2018 NCHA Futurity Open Reserve Champion and an earner of $353,007.
Including All Spice’s $246,880 first-place paycheck at the Futurity, Show Biz Kitty’s produce record stands at more than $1,261,597. She is the third-leading earner for her sire, Once In A Blu Boon, who just edged past the $3 million in progeny earnings.
All Spice was bred by Royce Stallcup, of Seymour, Texas.
Quarter Horse News
by Molly Montag
View article on QHN