A Surprising Finish
Todd Bergen qualified four horses for the open finals at the 2009 National Reined Cow Horse Association Snaffle Bit Futurity. But he undoubtedly left Reno, Nevada, wondering what might have been. A 221 in the reining left Bergen and Smart Luck with a 2.5-point lead going into the fence work.
Bergen and Smart Luck were first up in the random draw. The two had a great run going when Bergen went to circle his cow. He was mere seconds away from establishing a score that would have left him nearly impossible to beat. But Smart Luck stumbled, went down and sent Bergen crashing to the arena floor–along with his championship dreams. The no-score left the door open for Zane Davis and Reymanator.
Up last in the fence work, Davis and Reymanator turned in a 220-point run and easily edged Todd Crawford on Shiners Nickle and Boyd Rice on Picka Patcha Pepto. Quarter Horse News Editor Katie Tims described Reymanator as a “cage fighter.” The horse definitely excelled in the cow events. He turned in a 218.5 in the herd work–easily the highest score of the morning competition. And he did it despite being the last horse to work before the cattle change.
Congratulations to Davis and Reymanator owner John Semanik.