When Shes Stylish was born in 2017, breeder Kelley Stone-Wainscott knew she had something special.
“I said, ‘I bred the best baby I’ve ever bred in my life,’ ” the horsewoman reminisced. “I pulled her out of her mother, and she looked like a little aged mare. She’s about 1,200 pounds heavier now, but she looks exactly the same.”
Indeed, “Gracie” is special. On September 28 at the 2023 APHA/WCHA Halter Million in Fort Worth, Texas, the 2017 sorrel overo mare earned her second Scarlet Print Memorial Award. The prestigious trophy is presented to a mare that wins APHA world championships in Youth, Amateur and Open competition in a single year.
Gracie’s 2023 championships came at the hands of handlers who spanned more than 70 years in age. She first won Youth Aged Mares with Isabella Cook, age 9. Bob Cassata, age 83, took over for the Amateur Aged Mares class to earn another world championship. Then, Stone-Wainscott handled Gracie for the Open Aged Mares, where the pair clinched a world title of their own.
In It To Win It
All told, Gracie has earned 12 world championships in her career: four Youth, five Amateur and three Open. She was the 2019 Scarlet Print award winner, and tied for the honor again in 2020, though she lost the tiebreaker that year to barn mate Red Hot N Stylish.
Stone-Wainscott has helped produce multiple Scarlet Print award-winning horses in her career. The secret, she says, is starting with a great horse and then adding an exceptional family willing to go the extra mile to help fulfill the horse’s potential. Her husband, fellow trainer Adam Wainscott, agrees.
“I’ve always said you can’t have great horses without great owners. You can have a great horse and never get it to those marks if you don’t have owners behind that horse who are willing to do the things that it takes,” he said.
Gracie is owned by the Cassata family’s Double C Acres in Morganton, North Carolina; she is by Hes Stylin and out of Roses N Heir (QH). Stone-Wainscott says they’ll continue to show Gracie, and then hope to retire her to a broodmare career and forever home on their farm.
“We love that mare. She’s just one of those that leaves an imprint, and one of the best minded, kindest animals on the planet,” she said. “It’s a special family, and it’s been a special story for all of us.”
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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 in 1962. APHA promotes, preserves and provides meaningful experiences with Paint Horses.