Tatum Rice on Hashtags. Ted Petit Photography.
Hashtags, leader in 2018 NCHA Open World Standings, claimed his fourth limited age win of the year on Monday with 226 points in the El Rancho Futurity. Owned by Hashtag Ventures of Weatherford, Texas, 5-year-old Hashtags, a stallion sired by Metallic Cat, was bred by Jim Haworth and is shown by Hall of Fame Rider Tatum Rice.
Ichis My Choice, 2016 NCHA Open Horse of the Year, sired by Cat Ichi, earned the reserve championship with 224 points under Grant Setnicka for J Five Horse Ranch Mgmt, Weatherford, Tex. The 6-year-old Cat Ichi daughter has lifetime earnings of over $414,000.
Bet Shes Smooth, bred and owned by Oxbow Ranch, Weatherford, Tex., scored 221.5 to place third with Lindy Burch. Sired by Smooth As A Cat, 6-year-old Bet Shes Smooth, with earnings of $122,702, was reserve champion of the 2015 NCHA Futurity under Burch. Her dam, Bet Yer Blue Boons, won the 2000 NCHA World Championship, as well as the 2000 and 1997 World Finals with Burch, and has produced earners of over $1.1 million, including five that have each earned $100,000 or more.
Hashtags, earner of $424,430, ranks third among Metallic Cat’s all-time money earners. Out of Dual Rey Tag, a daughter of NCHA Super Stakes champion Playin Tag, Hashtags has bankrolled more than $169,000 in the 2018 calendar year with limited age event wins at the Breeders Invitational, Bonanza, Idaho and El Rancho. In the weekend column, he scored Mercuria World Series wins at the Calgary Stampede and the Idaho Futurity, as well as reserve at the West Texas Futurity. Later this week he will also contend in the El Ranch/NCHA Mercuria Open.