Tag Rice might never escape the shadow of Chiquita Pistol. That's all right with him.

"Everybody still talks about her," he said. "That's not a bad thing. I realize I'm never going to get another horse like that again. If I do, I'll be real lucky. But I'm sure I won't."

While his quest for the next great horse continues, Rice will make do with Purdy Boy Flash. The pair marked 217.5 in Monday's Futurity Open second go-round.

With a combined score of 437, Rice and his horse easily advanced to Saturday night's finals at Augusta-Richmond County Civic Center.

Rice said there's no comparison between Purdy Boy Flash and Chiquita Pistol. The famed mare won the 2002 NCHA World Championship Futurity, 2003 Augusta Futurity Open finals and 2004 Western Horseman Cup Open finals. Rice and the horse set the arena record, which still stands, at 230.5.

"He's not that good, but neither is any other horse in this pen," Rice said. "(Chiquita Pistol's) strength and stuff was just incredible. But this is a super-nice little horse."

Purdy Boy Flash, owned by Jack and Susan Waggoner, comes from a long line of champions. The stud is by Pretty Boy Cat out of Purdy Aristocrat. His father won the 2001 Augusta Futurity Open finals, while his mother captured the 2002 Classic Open finals.

Rice began training the horse last year, but is still getting acquainted with him. The horse missed eight months last year with a stifle problem, but he likes what he's seen from the horse so far. The pair finished fifth at the Abilene Spectacular earlier this month.

"He's got a real neat look on a cow and he moves pretty easy," Rice said. "He wants to try and help you most of the time. He's just a nice horse."

Rice is hoping he fares better in this event this year than he did in 2005. Last year, he finished 14th in the Futurity Open finals on Cat T Masterson.

"All we can do is show him and see what happens," he said.

While Rice would like to add a third Augusta title to his rsum, he also wouldn't mind do something else - play Augusta National Golf Club.

An avid golfer, Rice said his handicap is "too much." Of course, he's had little time to work on his game of late.

"It seems like we've been awful busy," he said. "I hadn't played here at all yet, but maybe in the next couple of days."

Reach Chris Gay at (706) 823-3645 or chris.gay@augustachronicle.com.

--From the Tuesday, January 24, 2006 printed edition of the Augusta Chronicle