Category: History

One million has become the marker by which many achievements in the National Reining Horse Association have been measured. Recently, three stallions surpassed multi-million dollar milestones, cementing their places in the history books of the reining industry.

Two of the stallions, Gunnatrashya and Walla Walla Whiz, are owned by NRHA Two Million Dollar Owner Arcese Quarter Horses USA, while the third, Whizkey N Diamonds, is owned by Rhodes River Ranch.

Gunnatrashya – $7 Million Sire

Gunnatrashya, owned by Arcese Quarter Horses USA, first became an NRHA Million Dollar Sire in 2017, less than three years after his first foal crop entered the show pen. In every subsequent year, the stallion, owned by Arcese Quarter Horses USA, has passed at least one million-dollar milestone each year, and two in 2021.

As of this writing, Gunnatrashya foals have won more than $7,311,000, and the stallion holds on to the sixth position on NRHA’s All-Time Leading Sire list. The flashy stallion was the leading sire of the 2021 NRHA Futurity and repeated that feat just weeks ago at the 6666 NRHA Derby presented by Markel, where his foals won $192,610.

Gunnatrashya, bred by Katarina Dorminy, had just as successful a show pen career as he has had in the breeding shed. With NRHA Six Million Dollar Rider and Hall of Fame Inductee Shawn Flarida at the reins, Gunnatrashya was the 2009 NRHA Open Futurity Champion, the 2010 NRHA Open Derby Champion, and the 2009 All American Quarter Horse Congress Open Futurity Champion. Even with limited showing, he accumulated more than $218,000 in NRHA lifetime earnings.

Gunnatrashya’s Top Earners (as of 7/11/2022)

Gunna Stop (Stop Little Sister) $672,762

Ten Thirty (Dainty Little Step) $369,059

Super Marioo (HA Chic A Tune) $336,562

ARC Gunnabeabigstar (Wimpys Little Chic) $298,999

Inferno Sixty Six (Snip O Gun) $205,690

Gunnarickashay (Rondas Tio)$177,871

ARC Gunna Mark Ya (Shiney Miss Marker) $163,877

Gunnabebigtime (Big Time Jazzy) $147,486

Loveya (Love Em N Lena) $131,861

Trashinyurdreams (This Chicsdundreamin) $129,361

Gunnatrashya stands at NRHA Corporate Partner Oswood Stallion Station. Find more information about the stallion at oswoodstallionstation.com/gunnatrashya or arcesequarterhorses.com

Walla Walla Whiz – $4 Million Sire

Walla Walla Whiz, by NRHA Twelve Million Dollar Sire Topsail Whiz and out of Shiney Walla Wanda, is also owned by Arcese Quarter Horses USA. The 19-year-old stallion boasts an impressive show record that puts his NRHA LTE just over $187,000. Ridden by NRHA Six Million Dollar Rider Shawn Flarida, Walla Walla Whiz raked in several top-notch finishes in just a six-year span.

Some of the most noteworthy wins of Walla Walla Whiz include the 2007 NRHA Level 4 Open Derby Championship, the 2006 Tulsa Reining Classic L4 Open Futurity Championship, and third place in the Level 4 Open at the 2007 National Reining Breeders Classic.

Walla Walla Whiz first became a Million Dollar Sire in 2015, and now sits at number 15 on NRHA’s All-Time Leading Sire list with $4,095,594 in offspring earnings.

Those earnings were bolstered in June, when his highest money-earner, Americasnexttopgun, won the Level 4 Open Championship with NRHA Three Million Dollar Rider Casey Deary at the 6666 NRHA Derby presented by Markel. All totaled, Walla Walla Whiz offspring won more than $96,000 at this year’s Derby.

Walla Walla Whiz’s Top Earners (as of 7/11/2022)

• Americasnexttopgun (Americasnextgunmodel) $345,892
• Shesouttayourleague (Wimpys Little Chic) $252,470
• Americas Supermodel (Americasnextgunmodel) $231,253
• Isnt She Perfect (Miss Silver Gun) $170,109
• Made In Walla (Hollywood Made) $133,077
• ARC Walla Dun Did It (Dainty Dunit) $114,203
• Americasnextcovrgirl (Americasnextgunmodel) $93,927
• Redhot Walla (Roosters Redhot) $74,764
• Walla Whiz A Dun It (The Bun Is Dun) $74,100
• Walla Whiz Affair (Memorable Affair) $68,927

Walla Walla Whiz stands at NRHA Corporate Partner Oswood Stallion Station. Find more information about the stallion at oswoodstallionstation.com/wallawallawhiz or arcesequarterhorses.com

Whizkey N Diamonds – $2 Million Sire

Owned by Rhodes River Ranch, Whizkey N Diamonds is by the second all-time leading sire of NRHA money earners, NRHA Twelve Million Dollar Sire Topsail Whiz, and out of NRHA Million Dollar Dam Princess In Diamonds.

Bred by Cristin Schuetz, the 16-year-old buckskin stallion earned more than $216,335 during his show career with NRHA Six Million Dollar Rider Shawn Flarida. The pair got off to a strong start, winning third in the Level 4 Open at the 2009 NRHA Futurity. After a brief hiatus from the show pen, Whizkey N Diamonds came back strong, winning the 2011 Wimpys Little Step Derby, finishing top five in the L4 Open at the NRBC, taking reserve L4 Open honors at the 2011 NRHA Derby, and winning the 2012 American Quarter Horse Association World Championship in Senior Reining, all with Flarida in the saddle.

Whizkey N Diamonds stands at Oklahoma Equine Hospital in Goldsby, Oklahoma, and his foals have followed in his sliders, winning at major events including the NRHA Futurity, NRHA Derby, and the NRBC. The stallion first became an NRHA Million Dollar Sire in 2019, just three years after his first foals began competing.

To date, Whizkey N Diamonds’ foals have won $2,069,786 in NRHA competition alone, and he has moved into the 27^th spot on NRHA’s All-Time Leading Sire list.

Whizkey N Diamonds’ Top Earners (as of 7/11/2022)

• Makendiamonds (Makeit In Tinseltown) $113,738
• Lil Ruf Whizkey (Lil Ruf Startime) $105,785
• Rsure Shot Of Whizkey (Gunners Sureshot) $80,504
• Smoke In Whizkey (Suga Suga) $74,552
• Whizkey Chaser (Sparklin Chic) $71,586
• No Mans Whizkey (SS Rosa) $66,008
• Starlightsndiamonds (Starlights Sugarwhiz) $64,787
• Dirty Diamonds (Wimpys Cat Step) $64,311
• Red Garter N Whizkey (Peppys Lightning Jac) $54,125
• Custom Made Whizkey (Customized My Gun) $46,551

For more information about Whizkey N Diamonds, visit oklahomaequinehospital.com

When Casey Deary and Americasnexttopgun won the Level 4 Open Championship at the 6666 National Reining Horse Association Derby presented by Markel, an incredible $75,000 was added to the lifetime earnings of both the horse and rider.

That meant that Deary, already an NRHA Two Million Dollar Rider, was elevated to the fifth position on NRHA’s Leading Rider list. With lifetime earnings of $3,058,233, he is one of only six riders to have won more than three million. That money was won on 161 horses, bringing his average earnings per horse to $18,995.

Interestingly, it was on Americasnexttopgun (Walla Walla Whiz x Americasnextgunmodel) that Deary surpassed two million dollars in lifetime earnings. That happened when Deary and the stallion, owned by Jody and Jolan Puno, won the 2020 Level 4 Open Championship at the National Reining Breeders Classic.

Deary has won the most money on Ten Thirty (Gunnatrashya x Dainty Little Step), his 2021 NRHA Futurity Level 4 Open Champion. The stallion, owned by Rancho El Fortin, and Deary have generated payouts totaling $369,069.

Deary’s fourth-leading earner, Shesouttayourleague (Walla Walla Whiz x Wimpys Little Chic), boasts $252,470 in lifetime earnings. In fact, it was Shesouttayourleague that gave Deary his first NRHA Futurity Open Championship, and that 2015 win was enough to make Deary a Million Dollar Rider for the first time.

One would be hard-pressed to write Deary’s story without including a chapter devoted to Americasnextgunmodel, who holds the third spot of Deary’s all-time leading horses and is the dam of Americasnexttopgun, who sits at second.

The flashy mare was the one who carried Deary to his first major victory – the 2012 NRHA Futurity Level 4 Open Championship. The talented athlete, owned by NRHA Two Million Dollar Owner Arcese Quarter Horses USA, and her offspring have been responsible for more than $900,000 of Deary’s earnings.

Deary’s Top 10 Wins 9 (as of 7/1/2022):

• 2021 NRHA Futurity Championship – $332,500- Ten Thirty
• 2012 NRHA Futurity Championship – $156,750 – Americasnextgunmodel
• 2015 NRHA Futurity Championship – $142,500 – Shesouttayourleague
• 2018 NRHA Futurity 3^rd Place – $96,764 – Americas Supermodel
• 2020 NRBC Championship – $75,000 – Americasnexttopgun
• 2022 NRHA Derby Championship – $71,250 – Americasnexttopgun
• 2020 NRHA Futurity 3^rd Place – $69,122 – Down Right Amazing
• 2014 NRHA Futurity 4^th Place – $59,690 – ARC Gunna Sparkya
• 2017 NRHA Derby Championship – $57,000 – Shesouttayourleague
• 2016 NRHA Derby Championship – $57,000 – Magnum Starlights

Casey Deary and his wife, Nicole, own and operate Deary Performance Horses in Weatherford, Texas, where they live with their four children. For more information, visit DearyPerformance.com

In 2020, Inferno Sixty Six’s first foals hit the show pen. Now, less than two years later, he has become the latest stallion to become a National Reining Horse Association Million Dollar Sire.

The flashy stallion, by NRHA Seven Million Dollar Sire Gunnatrashya out of Hall of Fame mare and Million Dollar Dam Snip O Gun, has been poised for success from the beginning.

When Inferno Sixty Six was born in 2012, owner Domenico Lomuto posted the newborn’s photo on social media with the caption “First step last night for the Futurity Champion 2015!”

That prediction was pretty accurate, as Inferno Sixty Six, piloted by Million Dollar Rider Franco Bertolani, tied for the high score of the 2015 NRHA Level 4 Open Futurity Finals. The pair were edged out of the championship in the run-off by a scant half-point, but that didn’t matter. Bertolani and the stallion accumulated lifetime earnings of more than $205,000 in just three years of competition.

Inferno Sixty Six’s highest-earning foal is 4-year-old Winding Inferno (out of Wind Her Up Chic), owned by Teton Ridge. The stallion has won more than $191,000, including a co-reserve championship at the 2021 NRHA Futurity and a reserve championship at the inaugural Invitational.

His second high-money earner is the 2021 NRHA Futurity Level 4 and Level 3 Non Pro Champion Surprizing Sixty Six (out of Dun With Surprizes) with $101,610. Rounding out the top three is Starfire Sixty Six (out of Wind Her Up Chic), who was ridden to a top-five finish at the 2020 NRHA Futurity.

According to Lomuto, this milestone is one of the most important steps of the stallion’s career. “To me, reaching one million so fast is something exceptional, and is an achievement that is unbelievable,” he said. “Since the beginning, I have worked together with Franco on the training side and Giorgia (Codeluppi) on the breeding side to create something special with him. I think he’s the only horse with a fashion brand under his name—it’s a worldwide sportswear brand.”

Lomuto had just gotten his start in reining when he decided he needed to purchase another horse. His first horse was a Nu Chex To Cash, so he began perusing Tammye Hutton’s Hilldale Farm website when a mare caught his eye.

“I contacted her to try to buy a mare I picked out from her website—Snip O Gun—but I didn’t know anything about the mare. Everything was a blank screen,” he recalled with a laugh. “She asked me, ‘Are you serious?’ and then explained to me what kind of mare Snip O Gun was.”

Hutton did, however, have an embryo out of Snip O Gun by Gunnatrashya, the 2009 NRHA Futurity Champion. “I didn’t even know who Gunnatrashya really was, but I knew that he was owned by Arcese and he’s an Italian guy. I said I would buy the embryo and that would become my reining horse,” he shared.

He laughed, and added, “I’ve ridden him a couple times, but Giorgia has not allowed me to show him.”

Inferno Sixty Six now stands at NRHA Global Event Partner Toyon Ranch, owned by John Tague, in Pilot Point, Texas. “I think they are great with him and are doing a fantastic job. John is a super person, and he handles things as I like from a managerial style,” he said.

Lomuto thanked his wife and co-owner of Inferno Sixty Six, Cristiana, and daughter, Giulia, for their support and patience, and Franco and Georgia for everything they’ve done for Inferno. He added a special thank you to Inferno Sixty Six’s vet, Marcelo Grilo, who has been with the stallion from the beginning.

“I also thank all the people who have believed in this horse and have trusted him. A global thank you to all of them is a must,” he said.

Inferno Sixty Six’s Top 10 money-earners are:

• Winding Inferno (Wind Her Up Chic) – $191,256
• Surprizing Sixty Six (Dun With Surprizes) – $101,610
• Starfire Sixtysix (Wind Her Up Chic) – $58,297
• Girlz On Fire (Gotta Git Ya Dun) – $53,331
• Simple The Best 66 (ARC Yellow N Lime) – $41,757
• Blue Inferno (Showtimes Lil Step) – $39,885
• Heza Frozen Inferno (Sailor Will Win) – $36,630
• Gunna Whoa (Whoawhiz) – $36,323
• Gangsta Sixtysix (Rush N Cat) – $36,212
• Smokin 66 (Nuthin Chic) – $35,466

There may be some movement in that list in the coming week as the 6666 NRHA Derby presented by Markel has 15 Inferno Sixty Six’s in the Open preliminaries and 13 in the Non Pro.

For more information about Inferno Sixty Six, visit Inferno66.com or toyonranchllc.com/infernosixtysix

Recent successes of George Bell owned and raised equines have catapulted the charismatic North Carolinian to membership in an exclusive club of owners whose horses have won more than one million dollars in National Reining Horse Association competition.

For Bell, the achievement is a wonderful recognition and made even sweeter because the majority of money won was on horses he bred and raised. “This means a lot. It’s been a long time coming, and I’ve worked very, very hard for it. Probably way more than I wanted to work,” he said with a low laugh. “I’m also now a million-dollar breeder, and to me, that’s even more special because anyone can buy a horse, but not everyone can breed a good one.”

Bell has owned horses all his life and got into reining after watching the 1979 NRHA Futurity Co-Reserve Champion compete. “I had never seen a horse that good and wanted one like it, so I went and bought some that were bred similar to her,” he recalled. “That got me going better than what I was doing because, at the time, I really didn’t own a horse that could beat anyone doing anything. I was honest with myself, and looked at my herd and knew I couldn’t win with what I had.”

Cee Blair Masota, by Blair Cee out of Lady Masota Star, was a full sibling to 1985 World Champion and future NRHA Hall of Fame inductee Miss Cee Blair. “I ended up with both Cee Blair Masota and Miss Cee Blair when their owner, Roland Beeson, passed away. He had willed her to me because I took care of her most of her life, and I kept her until she was 37. What Roland Beeson did for me was huge,” Bell recalled.

Now the lineage of those mares can be found in most of the foals emerging from Bell’s breeding program. “I’ve never changed because it’s working. We had a Miss Cee Blair daughter, Cee Miss Hollywood (by Custom Crome), forever, and her babies have won around $500,000, and they’re still winning,” he explained. Cee Miss Hollywood’s winningest foal is the 2015 stallion Mr Royal Hollywood, by NRHA Three Million Dollar Sire Hollywoodstinseltown, with earnings exceeding $150,000.

“We’ve bred these horses so long that when we have a foal, it’s not a surprise what it is. We know going in what it was going to be and how it was going to work,” he said.

While Bell has had plenty of success with mares that have had lucrative show careers, he finds a lot of enjoyment when mares like Cee Miss Hollywood, who barely broke $2,000 in lifetime earnings, turn into great producers. “Good mares make you a hero. That’s the truth,” he said. “But I like to have a mare who hasn’t won a dime, and turn her into a good broodmare.”

Bell is also an avid showman with lifetime earnings in excess of $128,000, and can still be found competing. However, he’s always made sure that his son, NRHA Two Million Dollar Rider Brian Bell, has always ridden the cream of the crop. “I was always in the car business and had to work 80 to 90 hours a week, so I didn’t have that much time to ride when I was younger. I gave all my good horses to Brian to help him with his career, and I still do. That’s alright with me because I want to help him and always have, so that’s what I do,” he said. “It means a lot to me to watch him be successful, especially on our horses.”

Bell and his wife, Carol, live in Smithfield, North Carolina, and can be found competing and spectating at reining events across the country. “Carol loves the horses, reining, and riding. She’s really, really good with them, and enjoys the breeding and the babies,” he said. “I especially thank God, my family, especially my son Brian because he won the most money on them, my friends and the NRHA.”

The Bells’ stallion, Mr Royal Hollywood, stands at Cedar Ridge Stallion Station. For more information, visit CedarRidgeStallions.com/Mr-Royal-Hollywood or find the stallion on Facebook at Facebook.com/MrRoyalHollywood.