For the last 24 years, the National Reining Horses Association (NRHA) has given consignors and buyers a place to buy and sell the movers and shakers of the industry. In 2024, the atmosphere of the NRHA Markel Futurity Sales was different than in the past. While the seats at State Fair Park in Oklahoma City were packed early on, it was the online bidders who took the reins at first. Even as the crowd thinned out, the volume around the auction block began to rise. Records were broken during this historic event as a yearling breached the $200,000 mark.
Navigating the auction block was the two-man team of Randy Woodard and Cody Shelley, who helped 238 horses pass through the ring. Five horses sold for more than $100,000, which brought the sale average up to $26,904. Total ring sales for the event grossed $6,214,800. Similar to the 2023 sale, it looked like the high seller came out early in the day during the Performance Horse Sale when the gavel fell for an impressive $177,000. Late in the day, that number would be blown out of the water by none other than Anne Tournay of Vieux-Genappe, Belgium, when she bought TR Gunna Bring It for a startling $250,000. This is the third year in a row that Tournay has purchased the highest seller of the entire event.
Buyers, both in person and online, came hungry, and just about everyone left happy. QStallions hosted the sale breakfast to get the day started as anticipation for the Platinum Performance Draw Party began to build. Once the draw party concluded, the National Reining Horse Youth Association (NRHyA) Stallion Auction helped bidders get warmed up before the first horse entered the ring.
Eleven generous owners donated a 2025 breeding to an elite group of stallions to help raise money for NRHyA activities. Far surpassing last year’s auction, NRHyA walked home with just over $45,000 to fund its 2025 endeavors. For the third year in a row, a breeding to NRHA Nine Million Dollar Sire Spooks Gotta Whiz (Spooks Gotta Gun x Prettywhizprettydoes) was the high seller for the youth. Generously donated by Michell Kimball of Collinsville, Texas, the Spooks Gotta Whiz breeding brought $10,000 from buyer Tim Anderson from Milbank, South Dakota.
With so many top-quality horses set to sell, it was anybody’s guess which horse would top out the sale. When a kind-eyed, simple sorrel colt walked into the pen during the Premier Sale, he commanded quite a bit of attention. As the bidding quickly jumped into the six figures, hip number 506 was truly unbothered. The volume around TR Gunna Bring It kept rising, and yet he proceeded to yawn multiple times. His indifference to the volume and unfamiliar setting around him is a testament to his NRHA Thirteen Million Dollar Sire Gunnatrashya. His dam, Ms Whiz Dunit, is an own daughter of another NRHA Thirteen Million Dollar Sire, Topsail Whiz. Consigned by Cooper Smith of Smith Ranch out of Whitesboro, Texas, the colt sold for $250,000 to Tournay. This is the third year in a row that Tournay has bought the highest seller. The hefty price tag for this colt contributed to the final ring total of $3,086,000 for an average of $24,923. Out of the 124 head consigned, 104 sold for a gross sale of $2,592,00, which allowed for an average of $24,923.
Smith Ranch started out the day strong when their consignment in the Performance Horse Sale sold for $177,000. Hip number 111, Daytona Five Hundred, was sold to Debbie Kuffer of Bradenton, Florida. Previously in training with Tremblay Performance Horses, the 2022 buckskin colt has all the right ingredients to reach new heights for Kuffer. He’s by NRHA Four Million Dollar Sire Shiners Voodoo Dr and out of Okie Starbella (by Grays Starlight). Final ring totals reached $535,00 for an average of $48,636. With 11 head on the sale, numbers almost doubled year over year. Nine of those horses sold, which allowed the sale to gross $473,000 for an average of $52,556.
Fifty-three of the 69 consignments in the Elite Yearling Sale found new homes, but it was hip number 266 who caught the most attention. Dolittles Top Spook was consigned by Bobby Lewis of Overbrook, Oklahoma, and the buckskin filly was bought by NRHA Million Dollar Rider Fernando Salgado from Gainesville, Texas. Her $125,000 price tag got Salgado an elite cross between Spooks Gotta Whiz and Dolittle Lena. Averaging $27,632, the ring total hit $1,906,600. Out of the horses sold, the sale grossed $1,574,700 for an average of $29,711.
Several two-for-one deals circled the block during the Preferred Breeder’s Sale, which boasted a 100 percent sale rate this year. The most sought-after was hip number 328, Chick Out These Guns. Boasting the hallmark bald face of her sire, NRHA Fifteen Million Dollar Sire Colonels Smoking Gun, the 2014 mare is out of Dun It By Chick, who is an own daughter of NRHA Six Million Dollar Sire Hollywood Dun It. Consigned by Chappell Horse Sales, Rancho Los 4 bought the broodmare for $76,000 which included a confirmed pregnancy to Jerseys Baby Driver. Chappell Horse Sales also consigned the second-highest seller of the Preferred Breeder’s Sale with hip number 335, Dont Tell Me (Hollywood Dun It x Shiney Enterprise), who sold for $57,000 to Alex Castaneda of Loredo, TX. Ring totals reached $687,200 for an average of $21,475. Since all 32 consignments sold, the sale grossed the same amount as the ring totals.
All prices and totals reflected are unofficial. Final prices will be posted on nrha.com at a later date.