Chiquita Pistol takes the Open at the 2002 NCHA Futurity

Chiquita Pistol made her mark early in the event, as the fourth of 28 horses to work. "I love that mare," said Rice, who rode Mr Beamon to a second-place finish last year, behind his father, Ronnie Rice, the winner on San Tule Freckles. The Rice's work together out of Ronnie's cutting facility in Buffalo, Texas.

"He brought her all the way over in a group, and he could have changed off any time," noted Ronnie, who is also an NCHA judge. "I think they paid him for that. He did a good job."

Dorman, 60, who is a ranch foreman, raised and started Chiquita Pistol himself. "I've known the Rice's a long time and I always liked their horses," he said. "I've been trying for 30 years to get one to the Futurity and we finally made it."

Ronnie Rice was out of commission following angioplasty, when Dorman brought Chiquita Pistol to him last summer. "I told Tag to work that mare the first night," Ronnie remembered. "When he came in, he told his mama it was the best horse he'd ever ridden in his life. And I just let him have her."

"It felt better to me than winning it myself," Ronnie added. "I thought he'd won it last year, personally. I thought he had a better run."

Ronnie Rice also won the 1998 NCHA Futurity on Dainty Playgirl. Tag's younger brother, Scotty, was a Non-Pro Futurity Finalist and Limited Non-Pro Finalist this year, as well.

Spooks Smarty Pants, ridden by Gary Gonsalves for Jeff Barnes of Wilton, California, took reserve in the 2002 Futurity with 222.5 points. "She's just been a good mare," said Gonsalves of the Smart Aristocrat daughter, who was the 26th horse to work. "We got lucky. My first cow we picked out, and the other two were shaped. She's a sweet mare and tries one hundred percent all the time.

"This is a dream come true," added Gonsalves, who earned his first Futurity champions buckle this year. "Any time you can make the (Futurity) Finals, you're doing great."

Non-Pro Finals

Mary Ann Rapp did more than win the Non-Pro Futurity, she rewrote NCHA history with her 228-pont score - a record for the Non-Pro Futurity and second only to the 229-point record set in the 2000 Open Futurity by Royal Fletch and Kathy Daughn.

"She was so on top of her game that everything went smoothly," said Rapp of her mare Little Janey Lena. "That wasn't a good bunch of cattle and she made those cows look good. Then the louder the crowd got the lower she got."

The crowd was loud enough to be heard in Dallas, as the Smart Little Lena daughter had her way with the cows. Rapp worked fourth in the second bunch, immediately following Scott Ferguson, who scored 225 points on Royal Cat and wound up as reserve champion. Rapp also split 6/7/8 on Moody Blue Boon.

Little Janey Lena was bred by Mary Ann and her husband, Phil, and is a full sister to Smart Little Jerry, the horse Phil rode as reserve champion of the 1996 Non-Pro Futurity. Her dam is Playboys Ruby, winner of the 1991 Non-Pro Super Stakes and earner of nearly $200,000.

"Ruby was my first good horse that taught me how to win in this pen," said Phil, who is now a professional trainer and rode Tap Twice, another homegrown, in the Open Futurity Finals. "Little Janey Lena is like her mother in that she'll take over and do it, but she's better than Ruby. Mary Ann had one of the best runs I've ever seen in this pen."

Scott Ferguson, of Hempstead, Texas, bred and trained his reserve champion, Royalty Cat, as well as last year's Non-Pro Futurity champion Jerryoes, ridden by Chad Bushaw. Ferguson, who won the 2000 Limited Non-Pro Futurity, also split 6/7/8 on another homegrown horse, Turtle Angel.