October 2, 2002 – Reno, Nevada – Merced, California trainer Brad Buttrey
rode Oak Ill Be to one of the highest cow work scores in recent memory on
Wednesday in the first set of the Open Cow Work preliminaries. Their score
of 226, added to a rein work score of 221.5 and a herd work marking of
218.5, gave them a 666 composite to leap ahead of the rest of the field by
eight points. Oak Ill Be is a daughter of Ill Be Smart out of Gypsy Oak that
is owned by Joanie Cohn of Cedar City, Utah.
Lance Johnston of Exeter, California, moved into the
reserve slot in the composite, scoring 222 on the fence to put together a
good 658 composite on Smart Card Chex, a half sister to Oak Ill Be. Also by
Ill Be Smart, Smart Card Chex is out of Casino Chex, and is owned by Marcy
Campbell of Creston, California.
In the Limited Open, Corey Cushing and Benny Guitron
lead the field with 650.5 composite scores. Cushing's high marking came on
Lady Sox Chic, a daughter of Smart Chic Olena out of Lady Sox Nic, owned by
Jose Bravo of Ramona, California. Guitron's top score came on Shining
Dancer, a daughter of Shining Spark out of Gun Dancer that is owned by Susan
Drnec of Chino, California.
The action continues at the World Championship Snaffle
Bit Futurity on Thursday with the final section of Open Cow Work
Preliminaries slated to begin at 8 am.
The herd work, rein work and cow work scores combined
will advance the top riders to the Open Finals, to be held Sunday, October
6. The winner will earn $100,000. The Open Draw will be held on Thursday
afternoon.
