20K Non-Pro Any Age champ Van E. Holcombe rides Daintys Tom Cat to score 217. Special

Van E. Holcombe gave himself the best birthday present Friday night.

Riding Daintys Tom Cat, Holcombe rang up a score of 217 to win the $20,000 Non-Pro Any Age finals by two points at James Brown Arena.

Holcombe, of Birmingham, Ala., took home $5,107. Jordan Vaughn, of Forsyth, Ga., and Peppys Playboy Champ placed second at 215 for $4,256. C. Wayne McDonald, of High Point, N.C., and Belle Fifty San finished third (213, $3,405).

Holcombe's son, Seth, the go-round winner, marked 207 on Like It That Way to finish fourth.

The elder Holcombe celebrated his 47th birthday in style with his first win.

"Tremendous birthday," he said. "To do this and spend it with my family, it's been an outstanding day."

After years of mediocrity, Holcombe finally broke through. Before his win at the Augusta Futurity, he had accumulated all of $620 in two decades of showing cutting horses.

"That's 20 years of fooling around and making all the mistakes," he said.

Holcombe got involved with trainer Austin Shepard when Seth became a competitive rider. About a year ago, he decided to step his game up a notch and go with Shepard, too.

"I had people really telling me to get hooked up with Austin," he said. "He got my son really started off right. He's helped me immensely."

Shepard said it took a little work to mold Holcombe into a winner.

"He was a beginner when he came to me," Shepard said. "He didn't have a lot of skill. He didn't have a lot of confidence. He just needed to be taught."

Holcombe, a father of three (Jade, 20; Seth, 17; and Molly, 12) who owns a building materials business, told Shepard to find him a horse soon after they got together. Shepard found Daintys Tom Cat in June at the Breeder's Invitational in Las Vegas.

"I told him to try to find me something," Holcombe said. "He did, and (the horse) has been everything he said."

Holcombe said Daintys Tom Cat, a gelding by High Brow Cat out of Dainty Freckles, has impressed him throughout.

"He's got a lot of heart," Holcombe said. "He wants to please you. He's very athletic. ... He's just a great horse."

From the Thursday, January 20, 2007 edition of the Augusta Chronicle