Jessica Gonsalves and My Dads A Cat Top PCCHA Futurity Non-Pro With 222 Jessica Gonsalves booked a quick flight from Texas

Jessica Gonsalves booked a quick flight from Texas to Paso Robles, Calif., last week to compete with a horse she'd never ridden before at the Pacific Coast Cutting Horse Association Futurity and she ended up guiding My Dads A Cat to a Futurity Non-Pro victory with a 222 and earned $11,133 plus her first limited-age title in many years.

Gonsalves, 39, Millsap, Texas, the wife of Millsap, Texas, cutting trainer Gary Gonsalves and the daughter of Paso Roble residents George and Susan Hearst, prominent horse owners and breeders, tied for the lead in the first two Futurity Non-Pro rounds. She then won in the finals during her first show aboard a 3-year-old gelding (WR This Cats Smart x Bodee Got Smart x Bodee Boonsmal) that previously won $3,870 with her husband.
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Gary Gonsalves bought the horse from breeder/owner Dottie St. Clair, Glen Rose, Texas, one of his training clients, while in Paso Robles last week so that his wife could compete with it at the show. It had failed to carry Gary past the second round of the Futurity Open competition.

In the Futurity Non-Pro finals, Jessica Gonsavles and My Dads A Cat competed last and best in an eight-horse set and they won by a solid four-point margin.

"He's a good little horse and I thought she'd get along with him," Gary Gonsavles said of his reason for suddenly buying the horse he's trained from the start for his wife. "She'd never ridden him until here. I'm pretty impressed. I'm real proud of her and I'm happy for her. I think it [his wife securing her first major cutting victory since putting the sport on the back burner to raise the couple's two children about 13 years ago] is really big."

Reserve Champions Bonnie Martin, Las Vegas, Nev., and Ginger Smoothie, a mare she and her husband, Frank Martin, co-own, after breeding and raising her, marked a 218 to earn $10,049. Ginger Smoothie (Smooth As A Cat x PCR Ms Ginger x Playboys Badge) had previously earned $409, according to NCHA records.

The Oct. 19-30 Pacific Cutting Horse Association Golden Hills Auto Center Futurity, Gelding Stakes, Cutting Stakes and 5/6-Year-Old Limited-Age Cutting attracted 990 entries, paid out $928,749 and offered $420,314 in added money, according to preliminary figures. All are near records for the event, held in Paso Robles, Calif., for the fifth straight year. The last day included several Non-Pro, Amateur and Youth finals.

Mary Ann Rapp
Non-Pro Cutting Stakes

Another native Californian now living in Texas, Mary Ann Rapp, won Sunday's PCCHA Non-Pro Cutting Stakes finals with a 220 to earn $12,412 with a 4-year-old gelding, Shrimp Shack Shooter, she and her husband, Phil Rapp, named after a fictional band.

Shrimp Shack Shooter (Smooth As A Cat x Awesome Autumn x Smart Little Lena), now a career earner of just over $50,000, picked up his first limited-age victory by helping Rapp edge the 219.5 score posted by Australian cutter Lisa Hewitt and her 4-year-old mare Olenasduallyfeather (Cats Red Feather x Olenas Dually x Dual Pep). Olenasduallyfeather pushed his career earnings over the $180,000 mark by earning $11,000 for carrying Hewitt to the Reserve Championship title in Paso Robles.

Shrimp Shack Shooter is named after the fictional band briefly portrayed by another fictional band, The Wonders, in the Tom Hanks movie That Thing You Do. "It was Phil's idea," Mary Ann Rapp said, but added she agreed with the change after the couple bought the horse last September partly so she could ride him at the 2010 NCHA Futurity. "We were waiting for a good gelding. We thought he was a good gelding to name that. He's been a good money earner and a good horse."

Erin Bimat
$200,000 Limited Non-Pro Classic

Erin Bimat, 31, and the wife of Orland, Calif., cutting trainer Todd Bimat, and 6-year-old gelding Smokin Cat Wacky won Sunday's $200,000 Limited Non-Pro finals with a strong 222 finish to earn $6,200 at their final limited-age show.

The horse (WR This Cats Smart x Bobs Smokin Spook x Bob Acre Doc) and Bimat had previously earned Reserve Championships at last fall's PCCHA Futurity and spring's PCCHA Derby and they won a Classic Non-Pro title at September's Idaho Futurity.

"We've had a pretty good fall," Bimat said of a horse she and her husband bought as a 5-year-old. "This was out last limited-age show and this was a good way to finish."

Smokin Cat Wacky has often fared quite well in Paso Robles. As a late 3-year-old, while owned by Ross and Carol Jenkins, Brawley, Calif., at the 2008 PCCHA Futurity, he carried Temcula, Calif., trainer Tim Smith to a Gelding Stakes Open victory plus a No. 6 finish in that year's Futurity Open finals to earn checks totaling $27,788.

Alex Penovaroff
$50,000 Amateur Futurity

Alex Penovaroff, 76, Hilo, Hawaii, guided I Aint No Bum Check, a 3-year-old gelding he bred and raised to a final-round 215 Sunday to earn overall, Gelding and Senior division titles worth $4,925, after the duo earned $2,878 in the $200,000 Limited Non-Pro.

Shortly after his final 215 ride on the horse (Im Counting Checks x JB Punxctawny Phily x Dual Peppy), Penovaroff also sold him to Aubrey, Texas, horseman Tommy Manion. Manion owns high-profile stallions Im Countin Checks and Smooth As A Cat. He actually signed the check using Penovaroff's back to write with, then handed it to him outside the arena right after the Hawaiian businessman's first limited-age win in a while.

Penovaroff, who started cutting at age 60, has made a point of bringing one 3-year-old horse he's bred, raised and trained to compete at the PCCHA Futurity the past several falls. He's also consistently guided horses to finals during frequent visits to Paso Robles.

Penovaroff owns the mare that produced I Aint No Bum Check and has bred to Manion's stallion's several times. This is the first time that Manion has bought a horse from him. The Texas horseman was quite impressed by what the Hawaiian cutter did with the horse.

"I'm thrilled for him. His last ride and he wins. What a nice guy," Manion said. "If all customers were as nice as this guy, us stallion owners would have a much easier life."

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Stephen Silva
$50,000 Classic Amateur

Stephen Silva, 33, Atascadero, Calif., and 6-year-old gelding CD Headlight won Sunday's $50,000 Classic Amateur finals with a 217 and topped two of its other divisions to earn three checks totaling $6,988

The horse (CD Lights x Peppeco Lena x Peppy San Lena) had not done much as a cutter prior to his final season of limited-age eligibility but came on strong this year, largely thanks to solid guidance from Templeton, Calif., trainer Morgan Cromer, Silva said.

The livestock feed broker had competed exclusively with reined cow horses until the past two years, when a friend of his that competes in that sport suggested he give cutting a try. His friend had sent cutting horses to Cromer and said she was a good instructor, too.

"I was lucky enough to meet Morgan and she's helped me last year and this year," Silva said after picking up his first limited-age victory as a cutter. "It's been fun."

He originally planned to sell CD Headlight at the end of this year, Silva said, but added his plans recently changed. He'll now probably sell one of two cow horses that he owns instead so that he can keep on cutting with CD Headlight at weekend shows next year.

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Brandon & Janet Westfall
Junior Youth

Brandon Westfall, 11, Los Olivos, Calif., and his 2003 gelding Smartest Peanut Yet won the Junior Youth with a 219 to earn a $750 scholarship and complete a great year.

The same horse carried Brandon's mother, Janet, to a 232 score and a Mercuria/NCHA World Series of Cutting Non-Pro title at the Idaho Futurity in early September.

"We bought him about this time last year," said Brandon, a champion rider at the same event with the same horse last fall. "He's a good horse and he's easy to show."

Brandon aspires to eventually become a cutting trainer, like his dad, Russ, and his mother said he's consistently repeated that goal. "He's been saying that since he was three."

Senior Youth

Chrissy Madgwick, 16, Castaic, Calif., the youngest of Lance and Barbi Madgwick's three cutting daughters, earned a $1,000 scholarship by winning the Senior Non-Pro with 221 aboard a 5-year-old mare, Smarty Hicat Annie, owned by Holy Cow Performance Horses and trained and ridden by Morgan Cromer –owner and trainer of the previous day's PCCHA Futurity Open Champion finisher Faye Reys Sis.

Chrissy & Barbi Madgwick
Smarty Hicat Annie (Cats Merada x Smart Ann x Smart Little Lena) headed into the event without much of a prior record, but Cromer went out of her way to prepare the horse and the young rider for the event, Madgwick said.

"Right after people were finished giving her hugs [Saturday night, around 9 p.m., after Cromer's Futurity Open victory with a 224 to earn $35,097], she came over and helped me practice instead of going out to party," Madgwick said. "Without her doing that, we wouldn't have had the run that we did today."

The teen rider sometimes helps Cromer with her horses at shows and the trainer has placed her in the saddle on a number of good horses, Madgwick said.