Chad Bushaw slides his name in the No. 12 slot for tonight's Western Horseman Cup Non-Pro finals at the Augusta Futurity. R.C. Rique/Staff

John Mitchell never gave the Western Horseman Cup competition much consideration.

That was until fellow trainer Roger Wagner told him one evening about his chances to qualify for the 2006 event.

"Being on top of it like I am, I said, 'Really?'" Mitchell said. "Yes, we really did have a stab at trying to make it."

Mitchell and Lynx of Style not only made their first Western Horseman Cup Open finals, they drew the best position for the one go-round competition.

At Thursday afternoon's draw, Mitchell pulled the No. 1 ball and chose what's considered to be the prime position for tonight's event - the second hole in the second bunch of cattle.
"The first three draws in the second bunch are going to be the premium draws if it goes right," Mitchell said. "I just went in the middle of them picks."

The Western Horseman Cup event begins at 6:30 with the Non-Pro finals. It will be followed immediately by the Open finals. Fifteen Non-Pro riders and 15 Open horses will vie for a share of the $250,000 purse.

The winner of the Open finals will receive $50,000; the Non-Pro champion will earn $30,000.

Riders and horses qualified for the Western Horseman Cup finals by earning points at 50 NCHA-sanctioned shows throughout 2005.

Their efforts led to Thursday's draw, where cutters pulled numbered balls for the chance to select what position they would ride in one of two bunches.

Mitchell will be riding 10th. Matt Gaines drew the No. 2 ball and placed the name of One Time Pepto into the 11th position. Roger Wagner, who drew the No. 3 ball, slid Quintan Blue's name into the No. 9 slot - first in the second bunch of horses.

In the Non-Pro, announcer Tom Holt substituted for rider Dustin Adams and drew the No. 1 ball. He slid Adams' name into the No. 10 position - second in the second bunch.
Kyle Manion, 2004 Western Horseman Cup Non-Pro champion, drew second and chose the No. 11 hole. Chad Bushaw drew third and chose to ride after Manion.

Mitchell, of Weatherford, Texas, is not entered in any other events in the Augusta Futurity. He came here solely to compete in the Western Horseman Cup.

"To me, it's one of the most fun competitive deals we get as trainers," Mitchell said. "I knew when I was driving out here that I had already made the finals. You weren't coming out to go through the preliminaries and go through the system. This is a shot at the money one time."

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

--From the Friday, January 27, 2006 printed edition of the Augusta Chronicle