AQHA - JUNIOR REINING

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2006 WORLD SHOW COVERAGE 2006 AQHA WORLD SHOW SHOW INFORMATION

JUNIOR REINING

HOLLYWOOD DOWNTOWN WINS GOLD.

BY ANDREA CAUDILL, FIELD EDITOR

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When Tom Foran guided Hollywood Downtown into the pen as the last entry to go in the junior reining, he was gunning for the high score of 219.5, set by Shiners Smart Chex and Todd Crawford.

The 5-year-old buckskin gelding stepped off into two blazing fast circles, drawing up softly into a small slow, then halting quietly in the center of the arena. AQHA Professional Horseman Al Dunning, who was providing color commentary via the Q-Bug broadcast, commented “this is turning into a horse race.”

The gelding continued strong through the rest of the pattern, and at the wire, the pair earned the world championship with a score of 220.

“The horse is fun to show,” Tom said. “In the first set of circles, I knew he was there for me. We’d worked pretty hard on that maneuver, practiced and trained, and he did pretty good. He stops and turns really well. I was getting more and more excited as we were going along. I was very happy with how the horse worked, and when I heard the score, I just couldn’t believe it.”

Tom Foran and Hollywood Downtown win the junior reining.

Owner Kitti McMeel of Simi Valley, California, was having a hard time believing it, too. The software designer is a relative newcomer to the sport, having been involved for about four years.

“I saw reining on TV, and I said ‘I want to do that,’ ” she explained. “And here I am.”

She purchased the horse this spring upon the advice of her trainer. McMeel calls her horse “Joe,” in honor of her father, who passed away last year.

“I feel like he’s riding with me,” she said.

When asked what the victory meant to her, she teared up.

“I haven’t been riding very long, or even been in the sport very long,” she said. “This has just been an unbelievable experience for me here. It’s surreal. It’s great.”

Hollywood Downtown was originally trained by Tim McQuay. He has 38 points in reining and has won $48,827 in National Reining Horse Association events.

“All the guys I showed against are friends of mine, and we all root for each other,” Foran said. “Tim was in the class, and given that he had raised and trained the horse and had done so well, it was nice to have him here this evening rooting me on.”

The 37-year-old trainer of Burbank, California, is a 10-year Professional Horseman. In 2002, he showed Sure A Great Jack to a fifth-place finish in junior reining, and the following year the pair finished ninth.

The royally bred Hollywood Downtown is sired by leading reining sire Hollywood Dun It. Bred by David Silva, he is out of the Great Red Pine mare Miss Tinseltown. The 12-year-old mare was in 1999 the National Reining Horse Association Derby reserve champion and earned $114,087. Her get have more than $100,000 in NRHA earnings.

Next year, McMeel hopes to show Hollywood Downtown as a non-pro.

“I can only dream to do this well,” she said with a smile.

WINNER STATS

Horse name: Hollywood Downtown
Pedigree: Hollywood Dun It-Miss Tinseltown by Great Red Pine
Exhibitor: Tom Foran
Owner: Kitti McMeel
Breeder: David Silva

Trainer: Tom Foran

Total class entries: 45
Purse: $44,638

World Champion Prizes: Custom gold-tone trophy, Montana Silversmiths buckle, Cripple Creek World Show jacket, Tex Tan silver halter and spurs, Justin ostrich Techno Crepe boots, 100 pounds of Nutrena feed, Professional’s Choice and WeatherBeeta product.

Total purse and prizes for the 2006 AQHA World Championship Show: $2,457,010