Jessica Feiner, Aspen, Colo., scored 220.5 points on B Nimble to win the NCHA Classic Challenge Limited Non-Pro on Friday, July 21. Michael Kemna, Valley View, Tex., took the reserve championship with 217 points on Ruby Shadow Cat.
This was the second championship win for Jessica Feiner and B Nimble in 2017. They also won the NCHA Super Stakes Classic Ltd. Non-Pro, in addition to placing in the 2017 Super Stakes Classic Non-Pro finals and the 2017 Breeders Invitational 5/6 Unlimited Amateur, where Feiner also showed Cowcat 511 to place third in the same division.
Five-year-old B Nimble, by Dual Smart Rey, had career earnings of $29,693 prior to Friday’s win; Jessica Feiner is the lifetime earner of $166,249.
Reserve champion Michael Kemna and Ruby Shadow Cat hit a triple earlier this year at the Arbuckle Mountain Cutting with wins in the 5/6 Non-Pro, the Unlimited Amateur, and the Non-Pro Gelding division. They also won the the Pacific Coast Derby 5/6 Non-Pro Limited and placed second in the Unlimited Amateur Gelding division of the same event.
Kemna, the NCHA earner of $180,008, and 5-year-old Ruby Shadow Cat LTE $104,818, by Metallic Cat, also qualified for the finals of the 2017 NCHA Classic Challenge Non-Pro Finals, on Sunday, July 23.
Multiple World Champion Joe Howard Williamson rode Miz Savanah Ichi through Non-Pro rounds of 218.5 and 218 for the top cumulative score of 436.5. Twenty riders marked 431.5 or better to advance to Monday’s Non-Pro Classic Challenge finals.
Williamson, an NCHA Non-Pro Hall of Famer, is riding 6-year-old Miz Savanah Ichi, bred by EE Ranches, and an earner of more than $34,000. Williamson finished third on the mare last month at the Non-Pro Cutting.
Steve Anderson, who is also in the Non-Pro Hall of Fame, topped the second round scores in the Non-Pro with a 222 on Littlemak, for a cumulative 435. Littlemak, by Starlights Gypsy out of Justa Swinging Gal, is also the top qualifier under Jon Burgess for Saturday’s Open finals with a cumulative 440.5.