April 13, 2006 — The National Reined Cow Horse Association (NRCHA) 2006 Stakes came to a close April 2 as Todd Crawford and Jo Anne Carollo were crowned champions at the Idaho Horse Park in Nampa. The Stakes, which ran from March 29 to April 2, paid out $336,125 in prize money in the Stakes divisions alone, including $31,635 to the Open Champion.
Todd Crawford of Blanchard, Okla., and Im Smartly Colored, by Paint stallion Color Me Smart and out of Martina Cee, captured the Open Stakes Championship with a 656-point composite. The pair won the herd work, with a 222.5, and then marked a 217.5 in the rein work and a 216 down the fence to win the title by a half point.
“I got off to a good start in the cutting. That horse is a real big stopping horse, and he stopped well and turned well in the reining,” Crawford said of Im Smartly Colored. “The fence work, I kind of muffed it a little bit. The cows were tough to read and tough to get set up going down around the corner.”
Billy Rank Cogdell of Tulia, Texas, owns Im Smartly Colored. The Cogdell family is legendary in the cutting horse industry and Im Smarty Colored’s dam, Martina Cee, is a full sister to 2000 National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) Horse of the Year Shania Cee. Rank Cogdell sent Im Smartly Colored to Todd in December of his 2-year-old year, and Todd showed him at the NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity last fall.
Jake Gorrell, who grew up in Glens Ferry, Idaho, but now lives in Hanford, Calif., earned the Open Stakes Reserve Championship. He rode Quick As Einstein, by As Smart As The Fox and out of High Brow Jose, to a 655.5 composite (218/212.5/225) and earned $23,310 for owners Joe and Bobbie Stone of Placerville, Calif.
Riding Jasons Peptolena, a Peptoboonsmal stallion out of Amys Little Date, Smoky Pritchett of Red Bluff, Calif., earned the Intermediate Open Championship. Pritchett marked a 648.5 composite for the Intermediate Open title and finished seventh in the Open for total Stakes earnings of $13,325 for owner Terry Ratto, of Menlo Park, Calif.
Shawn Hays of Saint Jo, Texas, and Corey Cushing of Thermal, Calif., tied for the Intermediate Open Reserve, each with a 643. Shawn rode Irish A Shine, owned by Cowan Ranch in Ardmore, Okla., while Corey teamed up with CC Spin Cycle, owned by Cathy Corrigan Frank, Phoenix, Ariz.
In the Limited Open, Danny Morais of Pleasanton, Calif., earned the Championship and a check for $3,412 with a 636.5 composite on the mare Brooksinics Sis. Phoenix, Arizona trainer T.J. Good earned the reserve riding Playin Fletch for owner Clay White, of Red Rock, Ariz.
Jo Anne Carollo, from Atascadero, Calif., earned the Non Pro Championship riding ARC Hollys Chicadee. The pair led the Non Pro preliminaries and came back to the finals to mark a 654 composite (219/214/221) in the clean-slate finals. Carollo added $11,837 to her earnings for the Non Pro Stakes win.
Carollo bought Chicadee from Arcese Quarter Horses of Clements, Calif., last spring after she sold her 2005 futurity prospect, Hicks Chicaroo. ARC Hollys Chicadee has an impeccable pedigree. Her sire, Chic Please, was the 1998 National Reining Horse Association Open Futurity Champion and NRCHA Open Snaffle Bit Futurity Reserve Champion. Chicadee’s dam, Hickorys Holly Cee, is a two-time American Quarter Horse Association World Champion and was the 2002 United States Equestrian Team Reining Champion.
Shoshone Pony, by JR Colord Rambo and out of Docs Colorful Lady, carried Anne Reynolds of King Hill, Idaho, to the Non Pro Reserve with a 648 composite (216/217.5/214.5).
From Big Piney, Wyo., Mike Miller topped the Intermediate Non Pro Stakes riding Play Fire N Cash, a mare by Freckles Playboy and out of Firecat Cash. Mike and his horse earned $4,380 for the Intermediate title, along with an additional $7,102 for a third-place finish in the Non Pro with a 643.5 composite (214/213/216.5).
Carmen Buckingham of Bruneau, Idaho, and Check Out My Magic followed Mike in the Intermediate to win the Reserve Championship with a 636 composite (220/207/209).
