NCHA News

Second Spot and Matt Gaines brought down a packed house with a 229 in the Open finals of the Jerry’s Chevrolet NCHA Futurity, presented by Great American Insurance December 10 in Fort Worth. That gave Gary and Shannon Barker’s homebred mare a seven-point lead for the win.

Austin Shepard took the reserve championship on Lew Hall’s Sir Long Legs with a 222.

Second Spot is by Spots Hot out of Reycy Moon, a Cats Moonshine mare that earned $209,000. Gaines was an NCHA Derby finalist and Brazos Bash and Tunica reserve champion on Reycy Moon. Gary Barker also earned some money on the mare in Non-Pro finals including the NCHA Classic Challenge.

Reycy Moon, in turn, was bred by Gail Holmes’ Double Dove Ranch by Cats Moonshine out of Twice As Reycy. Twice As Reycy earned $194,000 as the 2003 NCHA Futurity reserve champion and an NCHA Derby finalist under Lloyd Cox. Reycy Moon has produced earners of $450,000.

And Twice As Reycy was bred by Holmes by Dual Rey out of Rey Lena Girl, a $525,000 producer. Rey Lena Girl was out of Jay Moss, a 1966 Rey Jay mare that produced earners of $761,000, including Rey Lynx, which Paige Alexander rode to a string of Non-Pro Top 5 finishes from 1989-1996.

Second Spot moved through the go-rounds with scores of 220.5 (10th), 219/439.5 (2nd), and 225 (1st) in the semi-finals.

For Gaines, the win filled a conspicuous void in his trophy case. He’s won the NCHA Super Stakes twice, the NCHA Derby, and last year, the NCHA World Championship. He also won the Non-Pro NCHA Futurity in 1990 on Playboys Lynnea, a mare his dad, Dick Gaines, bred.

Second Spot’s $225,395 paycheck, including a $35,000 bonus from Jerry’s Chevrolet and Great American Insurance, will give Gaines career earnings of more than $7,890,000 and position him to become the sport’s second $8 million rider next year.

Second Spot’s 229 is tied for the second highest score in Futurity history. One Time Royalty set the record with a 230 in 2010. Royal Fletch (2000) and Rockin W (2009) have also marked 229s in the showcase event.

The Barkers, of Madill, Oklahoma have been enjoying great success over the last two years. Before the Futurity, they’d already  won the 2015 World Championship and four Mercuria World Series finals with Special Nu Baby. Gary has won Unlimited Amateur championships at the 2015 Showdown in Cowtown, plus two divisions at Arbuckle Mountain this year, in addition to senior titles.

The son of High Brow Cat is out of Lil Lena Long Legs, a mare that Shannon Hall showed to the reserve championship of the 2006 Super Stakes, and an earner of $189,000. Lil Lena Long Legs has produced earners of $293,000 including Cat Belue ($189,000), a 2011 NCHA Futurity finalist.