Veteran wins first Champions event

Before competing in the inaugural Champions Challenge, Austin Shepard decided to switch up horses. It's a move he wouldn't regret Friday evening.

Shepard and Thomas E Hughes marked 223 to win the event's Open division by four points at James Brown Arena.

Shepard, of Summerdale, Ala., earned his third Augusta Futurity title and a check for $5,700. John Mitchell, of Weatherford, Texas, and Peptos Stylish Miss tied for second at 219 with Skip Queen, of Lipan, Texas and Sister CD. Mitchell and Queen each won $3,990.

The Champions Challenge featured 18 Open riders and horses in a one go-round competition. The event featured riders who were either former champions or former reserve champs.

Shepard, who won 2007 Classic Open and 2008 Futurity Open titles, claimed his third Augusta Futurity win in three years.

"To me, it's just a matter of things fitting," he said. "You try to do the same thing every time. If a good run presents itself, you try to be aggressive. If it doesn't, you try to stay in the right place."

For Shepard, 31, who's married to Non-Pro cutter Stacy and has two children, Cade, 7, and Caylee, 3, the decision was simple to not ride High Brow CD. Shepard and the 2008 NCHA Horse of the Year competed three of the past five days, including in Thursday night's Classic Open finals. Shepard said the horse is "plenty sound," and didn't want to push the stud.

"I just thought it was too many runs in a row for him," Shepard said. "He was getting a little tired.

"This would've been fun to show him in. But it was fun to show Tom in, too."

Thomas E Hughes, a 6-year-old stud by High Brow Cat out of Smart Letha, was purchased by Don and Kathy Boone, of West Columbia, Texas, from the Shepards last year. The horse originally was trained by Shepard's father, Sam.

On Friday night, Thomas E Hughes was well-rested. Austin Shepard lost a cow on him in the Classic Open first go, while Kathy Boone lost a cow on him in the Classic Non-Pro first go.

"I knew he was a good horse," Shepard said. "He sure came through."

After the Open event, Augusta Futurity show chairman William S. Morris III dedicated the judges stand in memory of Billy Baker, an NCHA Non-Pro Hall of Fame member who also served as an NCHA director as well as a judge at the first Augusta Futurity. Morris renamed the judges stand "Baker Tower."

From the Saturday, January 31, 2009 edition of the Augusta Chronicle