Scottsdale Sweep

COTTSDALES SWEEP

2022 DT HORSES WESTERN DERBY TOP 10

Scottsdale, Arizona – June 1-11, 2022 Horse/Rider/Pedigree/Owner/Score/Money 1. CR Hes A Tuff One; Brendon Clark;18S (Woody Be Tuff x Cat Digs Lucinda x High Brow Cat); Jill Olerich; 662.5 (H:215.5/R:221/C:226); $50,000 2. Zak 34; Justin Wright; 18S (Woody Be Tuff x Cat Digs Lucinda x High Brow Cat); Melissa Fischer; 661 (H:217.5/R:222.5/C:221); $35,000 3. Stylin Metal; Justin Wright; 18S (Metallic Cat x Stylin Playgirl x Docs Stylish Oak); Jim & Linda Schrack; 660.5 (H:218/R:220.5/C:222); $30,000 4. Metallic Catin Rey; Justin Wright; 17G (Metallic Cat x Little Reygena x Dual Rey); Jerry Koopman; 657.5 (H:218.5/R:218/C:221); $20,000 5. Son Of A Mitch; Phillip Ralls; 17G (Call Me Mitch x Jackies Sparkle x Nic It In The Bud); The Trust/Billie Jo Ralls DTD; 656 (H:220.5/R:219/C:216.5); $15,000 6-7. Selvarey; Sarah Dawson; 17M (Dual Rey x Shine Smarter x WR This Cats Smart); Sheri Jamieson; 655.5 (H:215.5/R:220/C:220); $11,961.50 6-7. SJR Royal Diamond; Justin Wright; 18S (One Time Royalty x Shiners Diamond Girl x Shining Spark); San Juan Ranch; 655.5 (H:217.5/ R:218/C:220); $11,961.50 8. Seven S Party Favor; Lee Deacon; 18G (Stevie Rey Von x Seven S Party Girl x Matt Dillon Dun It); Lynne Faust; 655 (H:217.5/R:217.5/C:220); $8,699.27 9. Bad To Tha Boon; Erin Taormino; 17G (Peptoboonsmal x Bet On Merada x Bet On Me 498); Kathleen Pinkley; 654.5 (H:216/R:222/C:216.5); $6,524.45 10-11. Seven S Razzberry; Kelby Phillips; 17M (Blind Sided x Seven S Valentina x Playgun); R.A. Brown Ranch; 653.5 (H:218.5/R:215/C:220); $5,980.75 10-11. Hendrixx; John Swales; 17S (One Time Royalty x Smooth Miss Trona x Smooth As A Cat); Monica Wille; 653.5 (H:215.5/R:219.5/C:218.5); $5,980.75

Brendon Clark knew a big win was coming on CR Hes A Tuff One, and at the DT Horses Western Derby the stallion delivered, taking home three Open championships.

By Kristin Pitzer Photography by Primo Morales

The DT Horses Western Derby, held June 1-11 at WestWorld of Scottsdale in Arizona, promised to be a big event with $100,000-added money in the Open Derby alone. The chance to run for a large paycheck drew 188 entries to the prelims, with 54 advancing into the Open Finals. When it was all said and done, one horse-and-rider team, Brendon Clark and CR Hes A Tuff One (Woody Be Tuff x Cat Digs Lucinda x High Brow Cat), nabbed the top composite score in all three divisions, going home with the Open, Intermediate Open and Limited Open Champion titles from the National Reined Cow Horse Association premier event.

Clark and the stallion banked a whopping $66,250.72 for owner Jill Olreich. The Australian-born horseman, who lives in Hollister, California, was somewhat in shock after his win, though he said he’d been waiting for the horse to score a big title for a while.

“It still hasn’t really sunk in totally,” Clark said. “It solidifies all the hard work and the talent of that horse. He’s amazing, and from day one with me, he’s always been a phenomenal athlete. I love it for him because he deserves it. He’s kind of changing our lives, so it means a lot.”

CR Hes A Tuff One, also known as “Cowboy,” was bred by the Center Ranch and Olerich purchased the 4-year-old out of the 2020 National Cutting Horse Association Futurity Sales. Clark said the horse has been great ever since, never wanting to put a foot wrong throughout his training.

After a huge fence run shot them to the top of the standings, CR Hes A Tuff One and Brendon Clark went home with the Open, Intermediate Open and Limited Open championships, along with a check worth $66,250.72.

“You hear stories of people saying, ‘The good ones train themselves.’ Obviously, that’s not the truth; I’ve had to do a lot of training on him, but he makes it easy,” Clark said. “He doesn’t like to do bad, and he doesn’t like to have too much discipline. That makes things very easy with him, and it’s fun to train and ride him every day.”

Cowboy only got better and better throughout the DT Horses Western Derby. In the herd work, Clark said the cattle didn’t make their job easy, but the horse is quick enough he can get himself in a good spot, even when the cows are being difficult.

“I was happy with it. The cows were tough, so to get through it with a decent score was good,” Clark said of the 215.5 they marked in the Finals.

The pair drew first in the rein work, so Clark planned to lay down a big run and make the rest of the field chase their score. The duo had marked a 222 in the prelims, so he didn’t change anything for the Finals. After marking a 221, Clark, who said he doesn’t usually follow scores, started paying attention a little more upon realizing they had a shot at winning the title. He was a little apprehensive while waiting to see which cow they would draw in the fence work, but when the first one entered the arena, it ran right past them.

The judges called for a new cow, and the second one took hold of the pair, but Clark knew he was going to have to be smart about it.

“[The cattle] were being a little bit tricky and were kind of hit and miss, so you had to be careful not to take all the wind out of them,” Clark said. “The cow really ran and tried, but that horse hit the ground so hard and got back out of there. He almost unseated me because he hits the ground so fast and is so athletic getting out of the turn. I asked him to get off it and get around it, and he just kind of swallowed it. He’s such a cool horse when he’s circling, and he had control.”

Though they had to work hard, their efforts were made worthwhile when the pair’s score was announced. Their 226 won the cow work by four points and upped their composite score to a 662.5, launching them to the top of the leaderboard and besting Cowboy’s full brother, Zak 34, a 2018 black stallion ridden by Justin Wright and owned by Missy Fischer, who took reserve for the event. Wright earned more than $128,000 at the show riding four horses to finish in the top 10 of the Open Finals, helping him surpass the $2 Million Dollar Rider mark.

“It was definitely an amazing show,” Clark said of his sweeping win. “It’s always kind of hard going there with just one horse to show. You’ve only got one shot, but he definitely gave it everything he had. It makes it nice when you have a horse like that.”

OPEN RESERVE CHAMPION

The 2021 NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity® Open Champion Zak 34 (Woody Be Tuff x Cat Digs Lucinda x High Brow Cat) carried Justin Wright to a composite 661 (H:217.5/R:222.5/C:221) for the Open Reserve Championship. The 4-year-old stallion, bred by Center Ranch and owned by Melissa Fischer, collected $35,000.

INTERMEDIATE OPEN RESERVE CHAMPION

One Metallic Spark (Metallic Cat x One Sparking Time x One Time Pepto), a 2018 gelding bred by Mark and Kimberly Rauch, carried Brandon Buttars to a composite 657 (H:220/R:216.5/C:220.5) for the Intermediate Open Reserve Championship and $9,303.39. The horse is owned by Lori Adamski Peek.

LIMITED OPEN RESERVE CHAMPION

Reserve went to 2018 mare CR Peeks A Lil Tuff (Woody Be Tuff x CR A Little Peek x Halreycious), bred by Center Ranch, and Tracer Gilson, who collected $2,899.76 for owner JB World Marketing LLC. The duo scored a 643 (H:206/R:220/C:217).

LEVEL 1 OPEN CHAMPION

Dr. Harry Prince and Patricia Prince’s 2017 mare Eight Karat Diamond (CD Diamond x Whizs Guinevere x Topsail Whiz), bred by the San Juan Ranch, and Andrea Fappani’s composite 647.5 (H:211/R:222/C:214.5) won the Level 1 Open, along with $3,990.96.

LEVEL 1 OPEN RESERVE CHAMPION

After scoring a 639 (H:211.5/R:215.5/C:212), Ms Chics N Dun (Chics Real Deal x Jackies Dun It x Hollywood Dun It), a 2017 mare bred by Lorris Vatnsdal and owned by Lesli Gilbert, picked up Reserve with Garrett Thurner. The duo collected $3,123.36.

NOVICE HORSE CHAMPION

With a 653 score (H: 217/R:219.5/C:216.5), Sliver Of Majesty (Metallic Rebel x Little Reyalight x Dual Rey), a 2018 gelding bred by Clay and Carrie Volmer, and Chris Dawson picked up the Novice Horse Championship, along with a paycheck worth $4.755.60 for owner Carrie King.

NOVICE HORSE RESERVE CHAMPION

Metallic Catin Rey (Metallic Cat x Little Reygena x Dual Rey) and Justin Wright also scored a 653 (H:219/R:219/C:215), but due to their lower cow work score, they settled for Reserve. Wright and the 2017 gelding, who was bred by Travis Lott, collected $3,804.48 for owner Jerry Koopman.

OPEN CHROME CASH CO-RESERVE CHAMPION

Reserve in the Open Chrome Cash incentive was split by two horses that marked composite 653.5. The first, SJR Royal Diamond (One Time Royalty x Shiners Diamond Girl x Shining Spark), a homebred 2018 stallion owned by San Juan Ranch, carried Justin Wright to the composite score (H:214/R:221/C:218.5) and collected $1,031.25.

OPEN CHROME CASH CHAMPION

Corey Cushing navigated SJR Talkin Diamonds (Smooth Talkin Style x Shiners Diamond Girl x Shining Spark), a 2017 stallion owned and bred by San Juan Ranch, to a 657.5 (H:217/ R:221.5/C:219), garnering $1,650.00 for the Open Chrome Cash incentive.

OPEN CHROME CASH CO-RESERVE CHAMPION

Also tying for Reserve was Seven S Party Favor (Stevie Rey Von x Seven S Party Girl x Matt Dillon Dun It), who collected $1,031.25 for owner Lynne Faust. The 2018 gelding, bred by Terry Stuart Forst, was ridden by Lee Deacon to a 653.5 composite (H:217/R:218/C:218.5).

Hesa Wee Bet (Bet Hesa Cat x Wee Quejana Gal x Quejanaisalena) was the star of the show with Debbie Crafton in the saddle, putting together a composite of 652 (H:213/R:219.5/C:219.5) and earning $11,136 between the Non Pro Derby and Chrome Cash Championships.