Lloyd Cox, riding Bitty Little Lena, scored 220.0 in the second go-round and is the top qualifier for the Futurity Open finals. Todd Bennett/Special

Sam Shepard is making moves on several fronts these days. One of his best came on Monday afternoon.

In the Augusta Futurity Open's moving day, Shepard made the most of his run. He and Playful Ricochet tallied 221 for the top score of the Futurity Open's second go-round at James Brown Arena.

The top 22 horses, with combined scores of 430 or better, advanced to Saturday night's finals. Lloyd Cox of Fort Morgan, Colo., and Bitty Little Lena posted 220 to finish as the top pair entering the championships round with a 437.5 total.

Shepard climbed out of a tie for 47th place after the first round to second place, 3.5 points behind Cox. Shepard attributed his good fortune in the draw - fourth in the last bunch of horses - to the score. Shepard claimed he and Playful Ricochet kept getting terrible draws, including last in a set when they missed the semifinals at last month's National Cutting Horse Association World Championship Futurity in Fort Worth, Texas, by a half-point.

"I've kind of been snake-bit on her," Shepard said. "Today's the first good draw I've had on her."

Unfortunately for the 60-year-old Shepard, he hasn't been as fortunate away from the arena.

He has relocated his home because of Mother Nature. Three hurricanes - Ivan, Katrina and Rita - in an 11-month span two years back changed his life.

Each time a hurricane bore down on them, Shepard and his son, Austin, and friends painstakingly moved 80 horses from their ranch in Summerdale, Ala., which sits 15 minutes from the Gulf of Mexico.

Shepard is planning to make a new home in Verbena, Ala. It will be a 3-hour drive north to the town that lies between Bir-mingham and Mobile. Shepard, who said he hopes to be relocated before April, will move about 50 horses to his new home.

For now, Shepard's concentrating on much gentler things. Such as how Playful Ricochet, a mare by Smart Lil Ricochet out of A Genuine Playgun, acted when he began training her two years ago.

"She was a little afraid of the herd and the cattle got to moving around her too quick,'' he said. "But she's always been very intent on the cow."

From the Thursday, January 23, 2007 edition of the Augusta Chronicle