For 10 years, the Scarlet Print Award has made the annual trek to Cowtown for the APHA World Championship Show, and for 10 years, the trophy has returned to APHA headquarters unclaimed at the end of the show. One of the World Show’s most elusive honors, the Scarlet Print Award is presented to a mare who wins world championships in Youth, Amateur and Open divisions in a single year—only seven horses have surmounted the challenge in its 20-year history.
The drought was broken this year, however, when Red Hot N Stylish swept her yearling mares classes to become the eighth winner of the Scarlet Print Award, the first since 2005. The 2014 bay overo mare took home a world championship this summer in Youth Yearling Mares with Philip Groeb; on November 5, “Jade” captured the Amateur Yearling Mares world championship with Bob Cassata. She made it a clean sweep November 9 when she earned the world championship in Open Yearling Mares with Jason Smith.
Owned by Joyce Cassata of Morganton, North Carolina, Jade was bred by Boncita Ranch Inc. of Aubrey, Texas. By Hes Stylin and out of Redhot Clusified LL, the filly was trained by Kelley Deignan-Stone of Sanger, Texas.
“This mare has been a phenomenal individual since the day she was born,” Kelley said. “Melinda Minnis bought her as a baby off her mama. We won several of the Platinum and Gold Breeders’ Futurity divisions with her as a baby. We were honored to sell her to Double C Acres—Joyce and Bob Cassata—and still keep her at the farm. To see her win this prestigious, incredible award is a deep honor and one that we all cherish.”
Neither Kelley nor the Cassatas are strangers to the Scarlet Print award, however; both have connections to its previous winners. The Cassatas owned Simply Sweet Susie, who won the inaugural Scarlet Print Award in 1996, as well as One Cool Hint, a three-time Scarlet Print winner. Kelley trained Te Cool Sensation, a mare owned at the time by MNM Show Horses of Quebec, Canada, who won the Scarlet Print title in 2005.
“There’s really not a greater honor in our business than the Scarlet Print award—it’s next to impossible to win all three of those titles in a single year with a single horse,” Kelley said. “It’s similar to winning the Triple Crown in the racehorse industry. It’s a really hard thing to win, and it’s such an honor when it happens.”
The Scarlet Print Award is presented in honor of Scarlet Print, a 1991 overo mare who earned 10 world championships in only four years. She was owned by Michelle Engle of Bakersfield, California, who established the award after the mare retired from the show ring in 1995.
Both Bob and Joyce were excited about Jade’s win; they purchased the mare in September, based on a hunch from Joyce.
“I think she’s a beautiful mare, and she has my initial on her side,” Joyce said. “Since she had my name on her, I thought I’d have her. She’s a sweet horse, very friendly and very beautiful.”
The filly’s good nature and good looks are coupled with her great conformation, Kelley says.
“She’s feminine, she’s balanced, she’s got so much muscle and quality and she’s a truly structurally correct mare on top of it,” she said.
After the World Show, Jade is heading to Double C Acres in North Carolina. She’ll get to enjoy a nice vacation, Joyce says, before she hits the show ring again in 2016.
“She’s just a yearling now,” she said. “I want to enjoy her for a long time.”
Scarlet Print Award Winners
Simply Sweet Susie, 1996
One Cool Hint, 2001
Pretty Versital, 2001
One Cool Hint, 2002
One Cool Hint, 2003
Sockets Angel, 2005
Te Cool Sensation, 2005
Red Hot N Stylish, 2015
##
[Reprinting all or part of this news release is permitted, so long as credit is given to the Paint Horse Journal and a link provided back to apha.com.]
About APHA
The American Paint Horse Association is the world’s second-largest international equine breed association, registering more than a million horses in 59 nations and territories since it was founded. APHA creates and maintains programs that increase the value of American Paint Horses and enriches members’ experiences with their horses.