NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity
Corey Cushing Wins Snaffle Bit Futurity Championship
on CD Diamond! With four horses in the National
Reined Cow Horse Association Snaffle Bit Futurity Open finals in Reno, Nev., tonight, the odds were most definitely in Corey Cushing’s favor. He still had to work for every bit of the $100,000 Championship pay- check as he staged a thrilling come- from-behind victory on CD Diamond (CD Olena x Shiners Diamond Girl x Shining Spark), owned by San Juan Ranch. It was an emotional night for the
32-year-old Scottsdale, Ariz., trainer as he talked about his first Snaffle Bit
Futurity Championship and the high- scoring 222 cow work that sealed the win. “It always comes down to the fence work, and that’s what it came down to today,” Cushing said. He began the finals performance
aboard the palomino stallion with 214.5 in the rein work, and then scored a respectable 215.5 in the rein work. The 430 composite score still put him seven-and-a-half points behind Todd Bergen, who had built an imposing lead after two events with a 437.5 aboard This One Time (One Time Pepto x Katie Starlight x Grays Starlight), owned by Pamela Bailey. Cushing drew first in the cow work and immediately put up the high-
est score of the Open Finals, a 222. Given CD Diamond’s natural talent for that event, it wasn’t entirely unex- pected, Cushing said. “He’s been a fence horse from
day one. As the saying goes, great fence horses are born, they are not made. It’s been something that is so easy for him, to wrap himself around that cow. I wanted to put him in the best place I could and let him do his thing. He just gives a guy confidence.” CD Diamond’s owners, John and
Brenda Stephenson of San Juan Ranch, had been in Reno to watch their horse throughout the preliminar- ies. It was the second time they had seen a home-bred horse win the Snaffle Bit Futurity Open Championship; their mare, Stylish Little Oak (Playin Stylish x Shiners Little Oak x Shining Spark) won the title in 2010 with Tucker Robinson in the saddle. Bergen, who won the 2011
Snaffle Bit Futurity Championship aboard Shiners Dun Juan (Smart Shiner x Cremes Chic Olena x Smart Chic Olena), claimed the$80,000 Reserve Championship check with This One Time for owner Pam Bailey. He admitted it was disappointing to
44 . November 2012 .
www.PacificCoastJournal.com
see the Championship slip away, but he couldn’t help being happy that his long-time friend and fellow trainer reached the winner’s circle.
Corey Cushing, his wife, Kristen and son Caleb, 16 months, celebrate Corey's $100,000 Snaffle Bit Futurity
Championship aboard CD Diamond (CD Olena x Shiners Diamond Girl x Shining Spark). The couple's second son is due in early January. Stephanie Duquette photo.
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