NCHA News

Michelle Reichart and CD To The Max posted the high score of 219.5
in the first round of the Non-Pro Thursday.

The NCHA 6666 Eastern Nationals in Jackson, Miss., concludes on Friday, March 17 with the $50,000 Amateur Finals and the Non-Pro Finals. Amateur go-round contenders who scored 207 points or higher advanced to the 26-horse Finals, while Non-Pro go-round competitors with 211 points or better gained the Non-Pro Finals.

Michelle Reichart, Frankton, Ind., topped the Non-Pro go-round with 219.5 points on CD To The Max, by CD Olena, while Alexis Stephas, Chattanooga, Tenn., and Priscilla Wilson, Rosenburg, Tex., each marked 219 points to tie for second and third.

Ten-year-old CD To The Max LTE $92,625 was an Open Finalist at this year’s Eastern Nationals under Bradley Davis, and also a 2015 Open Finalist with Brett Davis. Reichart has shown him eight times as a finalist in Jackson, including this year and in 2014, when the duo claimed the $5,000 Novice Non-Pro reserve championship.

Michelle’s husband, Gary Reichart, also qualified for Friday’s $50,000 Amateur Finals with the second-highest score (217 points) on Boons Playin, by Mr Boonsmal To You LTE $114,118. Shane Crawford, Mount Olive, Miss., won the $50,000 Amateur go-round with 222 points, riding Smooth As A Angel LTE $31,682, by Smooth As A Cat.

Alexis Stephas, an NCHA Non-Pro Hall of Fame rider with lifetime earnings of $645,890, rode Once You Go Black, by Hydrive Cat, for her 219-point score, and also qualified for the finals with 211 points aboard Reycin Car, by Dual Smart Rey. Stephas and Once You Go Black LTE $180,933 won the NCHA Eastern Nationals $15,000 Novice Non-Pro championship in 2015 and have also placed together eight additional times in novice non-pro and non-pro divisions, including the $25,000 Novice Non-Pro Finals of this year’s event.

Stephas showed both Reycin Car (5/6 tie) and Queen Of Hots (8/10 tie) in the $5,000 Novice Non-Pro Finals.

In addition to earning the reserve championship with Yadayadayadatime on Wednesday, in the $5,000 Novice Non-Pro Finals, Priscilla Wilson, also placed fourth with Yadayadayadatime and eleventh on Total Reycall in Tuesday’s $25,000 Novice Non-Pro Finals. Wilson, with NCHA lifetime earnings of $301,162, also placed this year in the finals of the 2017 Augusta Futurity 5/6 Non-Pro riding Yadayadayadatime, and in the Augusta Futurity 4-Year-Old Non-Pro division with Puddy Isas Puddydoes.

Five-year-old Yadayadayadatime LTE $36,000 is by One Time Pepto and a half-brother to NCHA Futurity reserve champion Yadacat LTE $93,609.

Other Non-Pro contenders in Friday’s Non-Pro Finals with 2017 Eastern Nationals winners’ credentials include Ashley Reese Davis, champion of the $5,000 Novice Non-Pro on CDs Pepto Gal; Page Bowman, champion of the $25,000 Novice Non-Pro riding Tom E Boy;  and Twistful Thinking, shown by Cade Shepard. Twistful Thinking was Open co-champion under Cade’s father, Austin Shepard.