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Rapp finally takes home 'crown jewel'
By Chris Gay
Staff Writer
Phil Rapp finally won the big one.
The all-time winningest cutter in Augusta Futurity history added his first Futurity Open title Saturday night, marking a 223 on Dulces Smart Lena. He defeated David Stewart and NQH My Shadow by one point.
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Phil Rapp on Dulces Smart Lena won the 4-Year-Old Open Division with a score of 223.0.
JEFF BARNES/STAFF
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Rapp earned the top prize of $30,548, while Stewart collected $21,851. Mike Mowery finished third on Olenas Jazzy Tachita with a 218 for $17,949.
"I've been so fortunate here," Rapp said. "It's really special to come back here as an Open trainer and to win the crown jewel of the Augusta Futurity. The Classic is a great deal and so is the Non-Pro, but the jewel really is the 4-year-old Open."
It's the fifth straight year that a Rapp has won in Augusta. Phil Rapp won the Classic Open and Non-Pro titles in 1998, the Classic Non-Pro in 1999 and the Futurity Non-Pro in 2000. Last year, Phil's wife, Mary Ann, won the Futurity Non-Pro event.
"This is a great place to show, and we always try to get ready to show here and do well," said Rapp, who has seven Augusta titles, three more than Pete Branch, Faron Hightower and Terry Riddle. "It's more difficult to win in the (Futurity) Open, obviously. But we've just really been blessed."
Rapp, of Weatherford, Texas, and Dulces Smart Lena seemed to be a split-second away from disaster on their run. The two made a brilliant cut on the second cow to keep from losing it.
"It went well," said Rapp, competing in the Futurity Open for the fourth year. "I was pleased. My horse was really good, and he did all the animation and had all the electricity. He's a special horse."
Rapp rode sixth in the 22-horse competition. After the first set of 11 horses ran, he went outside and sat in his truck.
"I tried to find several people to talk to on the telephone to pass the time before the cutting was over," he said. "I didn't want to watch."
Dulces Smart Lena, a stallion by Smart Little Lena out of Little Badger Dulce, is owned by Dulces Smart Lena Syndicate of Parks, Ariz. Smart Little Lena is the sire of the most horses (35) entered in the Augusta Futurity.
Stewart, a 40-year-old trainer from Commerce, Ga., gave an impressive showing on NQH My Shadow. Stewart's second-place finish was his best finish in Augusta.
"There was so much adrenaline pumping at the time, I was just trying to do my job," Stewart said. "I knew I was close."
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