Just after he made history, Tag Rice took a deep breath, composed himself and bought a sports drink.

Moments after Lindy Burch and Play Peek A Boon tied the arena record with a score of 227, Rice and Chiquita Pistol electrified the crowd with an eye-popping mark of 230.5 to win the Futurity Open final in the 24th annual Augusta Futurity at Augusta-Richmond County Civic Center on Saturday night.

"It felt good from the start," Rice said. "It's one of those runs that just kept building. She never weakened. The closer I got to the buzzer, the more excited I got.

"I thought I probably won it when the buzzer went off."

Five judges rank a ride on a scale of between 60 and 80 points. The highest and lowest scores are dropped, and the remaining three scores make up the total. Judges gave Rice 78, 78, 77, 75.5, 74 - with a 78 and 74 dropped.

With the victory, Rice, of Buffalo, Texas, collected $30,092. Burch took home $20,023 for her runner-up finish, while Matt Gaines of Weatherford, Texas, and MR Jay Bar Cat earned $17,100 for their 223.

Rice and Chiquita Pistol, a mare by Smart Little Pistol out of Miss Chiquita Tari, entered Augusta as the hottest futurity open pair in the industry. In December, the pair rung up 225 to win the NCHA Futurity open final. In January, Rice and Chiquita Pistol marked 231 to win the open finals of the Abilene Spectacular.

"If she never wins another cutting, she's done enough for me now," Rice said.

Burch, who ran 23rd in the 26-horse competition, tied Pete Branch's record run of 227 set in 1995. She became the first woman in Augusta Futurity history to eclipse the 225 mark.

The Augusta crowd cheered as Burch and Play Peek A Boon, a mare by Freckles Playboy out of Peek A Boon, cut three cows and appeared to give Burch her first Augusta Futurity Open championship.

"It's never over till the fat lady sings," Burch said. "In this group of horses, with this caliber of riders like you see here at Augusta, anybody has a chance to win it. ... I always try to reserve judgment until it is over."

Because he ran right after Burch, Rice heard the jubilant crowd but said he never saw Burch's score and didn't know what it would take to win.

"I didn't worry about that," he said. "I didn't even see her score. I heard everybody hollering and everything. But when I get in the finals I go down there and have the best run I can do down there and have. The score I get is what I get."

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