24th April 2008
FLARIDA TAKES NRBC BY STORM |
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If there were any questions about the abilities of Shawn Flarida, they were answered during the Saturday night finals of the 2008 National Reining Breeders Classic, held April 14-20 in Katy, Texas.
Flarida, the only rider with three horses in the finals, not only piloted the 2007 NRHA Open Futurity Champion, Wimpys Little Chic, to victory with a 233.5 score, but he also finished second on RC Fancy Step with a 231. Both horses are by the 2002 NRHA Open Futurity Champion Wimpys Little Step, the first horse Flarida ever won the event on. Flarida also finished fifth on his third mount, Walla Walla Whiz, scoring a 226 in the finals.
“This show is great, and it is hard to win,” said Flarida, who won the NRBC for the first time in 2006. “You take the best of the best from three years of horses, and there are a lot of great horses here. The horse show is awesome, and it’s continuing to grow. They do a phenomenal job with marketing, and it’s such a relaxing atmosphere to boot. I’m really honored to win here again.”
Wimpys Little Chic is on her way to making history. Only one horse has ever won the top three major reining events – the NRHA Futurity, NRBC and Derby – and no horse has ever won reining’s version of the Triple Crown in the same year. With one more horse show, a lot of luck and a great trainer at the reins, “Lexi” could do just that. No horse in NRHA history has ever won all three events with the same rider, so Flarida could certainly conquer another historical milestone with a win at the NRAH Derby at the end of June.
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“I try not to think about that stuff,” Flarida remarked when asked. “My job is to show horses, and I do my best to do that well. Winning is always great, but as a horseman, I’m just pleased to see my horses do their best. But I will say that Wimpys Little Chic is a special, special horse. I’ve had a lot of great ones, but she’s the best I’ve ever ridden. She’s an amazing horse, and I’m just grateful to be the one riding her.”
Wimpys Little Chic is owned by Mr. Eluterio Arcese of Arcese Quarter Horses USA, based in Weatherford, Texas and Italy, and was bred by Monica Watson of Double Run Farm in Leland, N.C. Watson also bred Wimpys Little Step and Collenas Finest Tafy, who finished as the Open Reserve Champion in the 2006 NRHA Open Futurity. Watson was on hand at the NRBC to give Lexi a good-luck kiss, complete with a red lipstick stain left on the horse’s white blaze. When she exited after her phenomenal run, Watson left another lipstick kiss on her blaze.
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Moncia Watson giving Wimpys Little Chic a congratulatory kiss |
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“Leave it!” Flarida said after the run. “I think it’s her good-luck charm. And she deserves a kiss after what she did out there, too.”
For the NRBC Championship, Flarida and Arcese split a wide array of prizes, which included the use of a trailer, a saddle and a check for $75,000. With the second-place check for $64,000 and a fifth-place check for $32,000, Flarida took a big step toward the $3 Million earnings mark. Flarida picked up an additional $18,046 for winning the NRBC Mare Bonus and $18,294 for placing second, seventh and eighth in the go-round, making his overall earnings for the week more than $200,000.
In addition to Flarida’s stellar week, his assistant, Robin Schoeller, had a successful week as well. Schoeller took two horses to the Open and Intermediate Open Finals, riding Flarida’s 2005 NRHA Futurity Champion KR Lil Conquistador to a 225 in the go-round and a 223.5 in the finals to tie for the Intermediate Open Championship with Cory Hendrickson and The Skeetist. Schoeller picked up $6688 in the first go, $25,500 in the Open Finals and $23,439 in the Intermediate Open finals to push KR to a new record – the NRHA’s All-Time Leading Money-earning Horse, snagging the title from Einsteins Revolution. Schoeller also rode Wimpys Pinesail, the horse he piloted to the Limited Open Futurity Championship at the NRHA Futurity in December, in the Open and Intermediate Open Finals, earning $2,500 in the Open finals.
“We just had a phenomenal week here,” Flarida said. “To have five horses from out barn in the Open finals, that’s just amazing. I feel really lucky, and I’m proud of Robin, too. He did a great job.”
Flarida is the NRHA’s All-Time Leading Money-earning rider, with more than $2.6 million dollars won and counting. He is just the second rider to earn two million dollars in NRHA competition, and has four NRHA Open Futurity wins to his credit. Flarida is proudly sponsored by EZ-All, Pards Western Store, Lybrisym, Wrangler, Classic Equine, Purina, Leonard Trailers and Horseware Ireland.
For more information, contact westernvisionproductions@gmail.com, or call 817-995-9287. |
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