Most every time Smart Little Glo shows well in a cutting event, the gelding is rewarded with cookies.

Benjie Neely, on Smart Little Glo competes in the 5/6 Year-old Non-Pro Division. STAFF

But after he and Roger Wagner rang up 223.5 to win the second go-round of the Classic Open at the Augusta Futurity on Tuesday, owner Benjie Neely discovered she forgot to bring the treats.

"Roger showed him (Tuesday) and won the go on him, and we hadn't brought (the cookies) with us," Neely said. "He was all over us looking in our pockets for cookies. So today we were ready for him."

Smart Little Glo received a handful of cookies after he and Neely, of Lyons, Ga., marked 219 in the first go-round of the Classic Non-Pro division Wednesday.

On Sonita Lena Chick, Bucki James of Purcell, Okla., marked 221.5 to win the go-round. The top 65 horses with a score of 212 or better advanced to today's second go-round.

After her run, James was glowing with praise about her 6-year-old mare, by Smart Chic Olena out of Lenas Taxi Driver.

"She's really a blast to show," James said. "She gets real low when she turns, and she's real smart about a cow. She's just a very special mare."

For the 29-year-old Neely, winner of the 1994 $50,000 Amateur in the Augusta Futurity, Smart Little Glo is also a special horse. Neely didn't begin showing him seriously until the fall. Since then, the two have fared no worse than fifth in any event, she said.

"He's a little bit of a late bloomer," Neely said. "He's a lot of fun. He's real strong and athletic."

Should Neely and Smart Little Glo advance to the final, the gelding will run Friday night and Saturday night in the Classic Non-Pro and Open divisions, respectively. Riding the horse, she said, won't be as bad as watching him and Wagner perform.

"It's easier to be down there than to watch," she said. "But he was a lot of fun to watch (in the Classic Open second go-round)."

NOTE: The Futurity Non-Pro first go-round finished Wednesday morning. Mary Ann Rapp of Weatherford, Texas, and Moody Blue Boon marked 219.5 to win the event. Rapp had two of the top three scores, including 219 on CD Grumpy Doc to tie Hope Justice and Foxy Santana.

Fifty-one horses with a score of 209 or better advanced to the second go-round, which begins at 8 a.m today.

Reach Chris Gay at (706) 868-1222, Ext. 114.