When Ten Thirty and Casey Deary claimed the 2021 National Reining Horse Association Open Futurity Championship, it was a dream come true for Brooke Wharton, who bred the colt by Gunnatrashya out of Dainty Little Step.
That win – and accompanying check for $350,000 – no doubt sparked dreams and aspirations for countless breeders around the world, and one of the first steps to that dream’s fruition is the NRHA Nomination program.
The opportunity to nominate weanling foals into the NRHA Nomination program at the lowest rate ends on January 10. These nominations must be received in the office by Monday, January 10, so the best way to ensure nominations are received by the deadline is to complete the process online through ReinerSuite.
The NRHA’s Nomination Program was created to grow its North American and European Futurities and Derbies to new heights through enhanced payouts. It has done that by allocating 60 percent of all the fees to the Futurities and 40 percent to the Derbies after a 10 percent retainage. Simply put, the enrollment of foals creates additional added money to the purses at the Futurities and Derbies which saw a 42% increase in the North American Open Futurity in the very first year.
Horses can be nominated to both the European and North American program or nominators may select one or the other. If only one is selected initially, the other can be added at a later date.
When a horse competes and wins money at one of the Futurities or Derbies, the nominator receives 5% of the earnings! It does not matter if the nominator still owns the horse or not. For example, at the 2021 NRHA Futurity, although Wharton had sold Ten Thirty during the 2019 NRHA Markel Futurity Sales, she still received $17,500 of the winner’s $350,000 purse.
Any horse can be nominated, and the original nominator can never be changed. NRHA Member and Show Services/Nomination Representative Emily Rush said, “We are so fortunate to have ReinerSuite available to us now because it really is the fastest and most economical way to nominate a horse. The $10 handling fee is waived when you do it online, and you receive an instant digital confirmation.”
When members log in to ReinerSuite, they can get guidance on how to complete nominations in the Resources Library.
Although NRHA staff is always available to help you with the online nomination process, they compiled a trouble-shooting page that can be found here.
The deadline for 2021 foals is approaching quickly! After January 10, the fees double until January 31, after which date the foal is considered a yearling and the fees adjust appropriately. Horses foaled in the Southern Hemisphere July 1st through December 31st will still be considered weanlings during the next calendar year. They will be considered yearlings during the subsequent year.
More information, including nomination forms, can be found at nrha.com/nomination.