If last year was a barometer of success, Tag Rice and Chiquita Pistol might be OK.

The 2003 Augusta Futurity - and National Cutting Horse Association Triple Crown - champions marked a 218.5 Tuesday in the Classic Open second go-round and advanced to the finals with an aggregate score of 434.5 in the Augusta Futurity.

The top 24 horses with go-round totals of 433.5 or better advanced to Friday night's championship. Classic Open defending champion Matt Gaines and Smooth As A Cat marked the second go-round's top score (222) and enter the finals as the top pair (442).

Rice and Chiquita Pistol last year set the Augusta-Richmond County Civic Center record in the Futurity Open championship with a 230.5. The two advanced to the finals after unspectacular runs of 215.5 and 218 in the go-rounds - with a combined score one point less than this year's total.

After Augusta, Rice of Buffalo, Texas, and his mare added victories in 2003 at the NCHA Super Stakes and NCHA Derby to complete the triple crown - which they first began with the NCHA Championship Futurity title. Chiquita Pistol, who also won the Abilene Spectacular, became one of just three horses in NCHA history to win the triple crown.

"It's just unbelievable," Rice said. "All the credit goes to her. And I had a lot of luck in there, too. Everything just worked out. It's funny how it happened."

If Rice and Chiquita Pistol, a 5-year-old mare by Smart Little Pistol out of Miss Chiquita Tari, are to add a Classic Open title to their resume, they must first get past Gaines. The Weatherford, Texas, trainer advanced three of four horses to the finals, including Its Just About Me (435.5) and Little Pepto Gal (434.5).

"I'm just real fortunate I've got four really good 5- and 6-year-old horses," Gaines said. "I always feel like the horses are good enough and if I do my job they're supposed to be in the finals. They're that quality of horses."

Typically, cutters tend to be less aggressive in the second go-round after a good first go score. But on Smooth As A Cat, a 5-year-old stallion by High Brow Cat out of Shes Pretty Smooth, Gaines added a 222 to their first go-round 220.

"I guess I was conservative, because I could've cut that third cow with a lot more time left," Gaines said. "But you could cut that cow with 20 seconds left and it runs over you and you'd feel like an idiot.

"My philosophy is there's one way to show a horse. Go show them like you would to win something. Be aggressive. I don't change a whole lot throughout the rounds. Maybe my selection of cattle will change when I get to the finals. I'll probably try to cut some cows that are a little tougher."

Reach Chris Gay at (706) 868-1222, ext. 114. or chris.gay@augustachronicle.com.