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Koontz finances school by cutting
By Chris Gay
Staff Writer for the Augusta Chronicle
Adam Koontz may never have to worry about tuition.
Participating in his first aged event, the seven-time Area 18 Youth Scholarship participant posted a 219 Saturday to win the go-round of the $50,000 Amateur 5/6-year-olds. Twelve scorers marked a 213.5 or better to advance to this morning's finals which begin at 8 a.m.
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Adam Koontz rides Cloud Nine (DNA) to first-go lead in $50,000 Amateur 5/6 year old competition Saturday at the Augusta Futurity.
Click on the image to see a larger view.
STEVE NORMAN/SPECIAL
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Koontz, an 18-year-old Clemson student, is the only two-time winner of the Area 18 Youth Scholarship. He plans to compete again in the Area 18 Youth Scholarship finals on Thursday night.
"I've placed six times (in the Area 18 Youth Scholarship finals)," Koontz said. "I haven't had to pay for school yet."
Koontz is getting a quick education on Cloud Nine (DNA), a 5-year-old gelding by Poco San Lena out of Moria Sugar. Koontz, of Belton, S.C., has ridden the horse five times since he received him on Dec. 16.
On Saturday, Koontz and Cloud Nine (DNA) rode next-to-last in its group of 11 horses. Despite bad cattle, the duo was still able to shoot to the top of the leaderboard.
"I knew what I had to do," Koontz said. "The cows had been bad the whole bunch. I drew up late so I had to show smart. And I did that."
Milt Bradford, who's been seriously showing cutting horses for a year, decided to make his first trip to Augusta. The decision paid off as he rode Glamorous Dually, a 6-year-old mare, to a tie for fourth place.
"Whether I do good or not, hopefully if everything permits, I'll come back," Bradford said. "I sure enjoy the hospitality and friendliness of the people in Augusta."
Bradford's company does a lot of business with the National Cutting Horse Association and it has a lot of clients at the futurity, he said. So where better to take a business trip?
"I just wanted to come out here and support the East Coast cutting," he said.
Bradford's run - 24th of the 56 horses - at the time tied Glen Matlock for the top spot.
"I was just trying to make a good, clean run," Bradford said. "I cut some cows my help picked when we watching 'em settle. I knew the scores weren't real high at the time. My theory is I don't ever try to make a big score. I just like to make a clean run and let it happen. If you make a clean run and show your horse good, you're going to get a good run."
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