Kayo Welles tossed and turned in his bed the night before the 24th annual Augusta Futurity began.

Anticipation of his run in the $50,000 Amateur Any Age event, though, had nothing to do with preventing Welles getting good sleep. Instead, the citrus farmer from Arcadia, Fla., was concerned about the cold front that swept through the Southeast and hit his 120 acres of orange groves.

"We had a scare last night," Welles said. "It got down to 28 (degrees) in my groves. I didn't sleep too good worried about that.

"Twenty-eight for five hours would've done damage. We had it for two hours. We dodged a bullet."

Welles had no reason to be anxious Friday afternoon. On Big Beau Lena, he rode to 218 and tied with Bill Brown and Shorty Lena Sprat for the top score in the go-round of the competition at the Augusta-Richmond County Civic Center.

The top 13 horses with scores of 214 or higher advanced to tonight's finals. The $20,000 Non-Pro final starts at 7 tonight and will be followed by the $50,000 Amateur Any Age final.

"I just want to get through another clean run," Brown said. "That'll be enough."

Brown said he drove 16 hours from Wichita Falls, Texas, to get here. The fact that veterinarians have yet to find out why his wife's 8-year-old mare continues to feel sore didn't help matters.

Nonetheless, Brown and Shorty Lena Sprat rode to the finals.

"We had a lot of trouble getting her ready," Brown said. "I was just trying to ease her around back there. She's been real sore. It was a long haul down here."

It was a long haul for Welles, as well. He and his 11-year-old gelding, the last son of the famed stallion, Doc O Lena, made the 10-hour trek here.

"I had some luck," Welles said of his run. "It takes five men and five horses and 35 head of cattle to cooperate to put together a pretty good run."

Welles expects tonight's winning score to easily eclipse his go-round mark.

"It could be a 225," he said. "Everybody's trying to be conservative (in the go-round) and try and make it back to the finals. If you make a mistake, you're out. It's a long way up here from south Florida for that to happen to you."