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Television replay gives win to North Carolinian
By Chris Gay
Staff Writer for the Augusta Chronicle
Carroll Baggett has been riding cutting horses for less than a year. So, her unofficial second-place finish in the $20,000 Non-Pro Any Age finals Saturday night would have suited her fine, she said.
But after judges took 35 minutes to review videotape of three cutters, Baggett's mark of 212 was lifted to a 219, a champion's score in the Augusta Futurity. The Turkey, N.C., cutter rode Mr Holey Chic Olena to a first-place finish worth $4,990.
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Carroll Baggett, on Mr Holey Chic Olena, wins $20,000 Non-Pro Any Age title with a score of 219.
Click on the image to see a larger view.
JEFF BARNES/STAFF
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Ken Warnell, who received a premature celebration from family and friends for his unofficial winning score of 213 on Haidas Peprico, ended the event with a corrected score of 214 for second place and $3,743.
"I didn't expect to win this," said Warnell, who won the go-round of this event a day earlier with a 223. "I'm not worried about it."
It appeared that Warnell, of Ellabell, Ga., would win his first-ever Augusta title in four years. His score of 213 was low, but at the conclusion of the event, the nine cutters following him could not match it.
After further review, though, Baggett not only matched Warner, but she also blew past him to the top of the leaderboard. Baggett said her 11-year-old gelding, by Smart Chic Olena out of Mays Holey Budha, gave her his best.
"Everything happens so fast out there," Baggett said. "The only thing I remember thinking is, I couldn't believe how great the horse was working. It was just such an honor to feel that animal move like that under me. I was amazed.
"He showed me something I didn't know he had. We were one out there."
Baggett said she was so impressed with her run that her original score of 212 didn't bother her.
"I thought maybe it was something I didn't pick up," she said. "A lot of times, they look at the video and saw that something must have been going on. I knew it was a screaming run. I've never felt anything like that in all my years of riding."
Baggett had ridden reining horses since 1987 but switched to cutting horses in May 2001. She began riding Mr Holey Chic Olena in July.
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