Several elite Paint reining horses finished in the money at the National Reining Breeders Classic April 14–20 in Katy, Texas.
Nu Pops, a 2010 palomino overo stallion by Nu Chex To Cash (QH) and out of Sugar Pop Gun, placed third in the Level 3 Open Finals with rider and trainer Todd Sommers.
“Nu Pops showed a lot of promise from the very beginning,” breeder and owner Deborah Strahman of New Smyrna, Florida, said. “Luiz Barros started him and got him well on his way before I sent him to Todd, who did a great job on finishing Nu Pops.
“Todd got along with him perfectly; he’s a very elegant rider and he showed off Nu Pops the very best, I think, that he possibly could have shown. Todd’s set him up for a great future.”
Nu Pops earned a composite score of 221.5 and brought home a paycheck of $11,116.44. Additionally, he earned the highest score of all Open Level 1–3 horses who did not make the Open Level 4 finals.
“His final run was just picture perfect,” Deborah said. “No bobbles, no penalties—he just went around very flat and pretty. I was hooting and hollering through the whole thing, and I did a little victory dance when I heard his score.”
Yankee Gun and The Kids Gotta Gun placed in the Top 20 of the Open Level 4 finals, earning scores of 221 and 220, respectively. Big Crème Chic and rider Tish Fappani scored a 217 to slide into sixth place in the Open Level 4 Non-Pro finals.
Other top-earning Paint finalists included Freckles Nu Lil Gun, Spooks Gotta Run, Taser Gun, Hes Smart With A Gun and Karl With A K.