The 6/7-Year-Old NCHA Kit Kat Sugar Super Stakes limited age class was launched on Thursday, April 1, 2021, with Open first go-round competition in Watt Arena at the Will Rogers Complex in Fort Worth. Meanwhile, 5-Year-Old Non-Pro first go-round competition was under way in Will Rogers Coliseum. The Open 6/7 go-round will continue on Friday, April 2, while 5-Year-Old Non-Pro competition picks up with the second go-round on Sunday, April 4.
Bama Jelly and Austin Shepard set the bar for 6/7 Open competition with 224 points, followed by Hotty Mc Hotty and Morgan Cromer with 223 points.
Owned and bred by Madalyn Colgrove, Boligee, Ala., 6-year-old Bama Jelly LTE $233,888 has carried both Shepard and Colgrove to limited age event championships including, most recently, when the Bamacat son claimed the 2021 Ike Hamilton 5/6-Year-Old Open Classic reserve championship.
Austin Shepard, the NCHA Hall of Fame earner of over $8.5 million, tied with Playin N Fancy Smart and Kory Pounds for the 2008 NCHA Super Stakes win on High Brow CD LTE $502,202, by High Brow Cat. Shepard also won the 2006 NCHA Super Stakes Classic on Widows Intentions LTE $352,665, by Widows Freckles, and was 4-Year-Old Open reserve champion of the 2014 Super Stakes on Some Kinda Highbrow LTE $492,311, by High Brow CD.
Six-year-old Hottish gelding Hotty Mc Hotty LTE $127,297, owned by Barry and Michelle Barnes, Lewiston, Idaho, and bred by Eric Freitas, has been a consistent limited age money earner under both Morgan Cromer and Michelle Barnes. Hotty Mc Hotty won the 2020 Idaho Futurity 5/6 Open Classic and was reserve champion in the 2020 Pacific Coast Spring Roundup under Cromer, and won the 2020 Cascades Futurity 5/6 Non-Pro Classic with Barnes.
Morgan Cromer, the NCHA Hall of Fame earner of over $3.6 million, won the 2016 NCHA Super Stakes Open Classic on Maid Of Metal LTE $205,615, by Metallic Cat, and has been a Super Stakes Open finalist nine other times.
The 2021 NCHA Kit Kat Sugar Super Stakes continues through Saturday, April 17.
To read more from Sally Harrison, visit her blog at sallyharrison.com.
