BY CHRISTINE HAMILTON, JOURNAL FIELD EDITOR
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| RS Lilly Starlight and J.D. Yates win the 2006 Sooner Trailer Superhorse title. The mare is owned by Kurt and Angie Harris of Whitesboro, Texas. |
Kurt and Angie Harris of Whitesboro, Texas, had a plan with their homebred filly, RS Lilly Starlight, back when she was a 2-year-old.
“We wanted to make a complete mare out of her, make a Superhorse kind of mare out of her,” Kurt said.
On November 18, the last day of the 2006 AQHA World Championship Show, that happened: "Lilly" won the 2006 Sooner Trailer Superhorse title. Earlier in the week, she won a world championship in senior heeling and a fourth-place finish in the senior tie-down with AQHA Pro Horseman J.D. Yates at the reins. She had qualified for the senior working cow horse and the senior heading, but did not make the finals.
“Right now I’m one of (the Harris’) favorite people I think!” J.D. joked after the award. The winning connections were all standing in front of the brand new Sooner Trailer that came along with the title.
“She’s a great mare,” he continued. “(Pro Horseman) Casey Hinton showed her in reining, and then (Pro Horseman) Don Murphy showed her in the cow horse, and I was lucky to be the one they called to rope on her.
“She was pretty much broke before I got her, which is a great thing, and I want to give credit where credit’s due, and those guys did a nice job. I did all the training for the roping.”
Don showed the mare to a seventh-place finish in junior working cow horse at the 2004 World Show. At the 2005 World Show, J.D. showed her to a sixth-place finish in senior tie-down and a third in senior heeling.
“She was still pretty green and didn’t have a lot of experience (roping), and they were still doing other events on her,” J.D. said. The Harrises sent Lilly home with J.D. after the 2005 World Show, and he had a full year of roping training with her.
“She proved herself to everybody that she’s a great mare, and she deserves this award,” he added.
Kurt, a veterinarian, and Angie own Harris Equine Hospital Inc. in Whitesboro, Texas. They also own Rockin 7 Quarter Horses and raise horses that compete in cow events. Lilly is a second-generation homebred for them: They bought her granddam, Play Dot, from Martha and R.L. Randall, who owned Zan Parr Express.
The Harrises thought the filly was talented from the beginning.
“Our goal was to, by the time she was an 8-year-old, to have her at (Superhorse) level,” Kurt said. “We beat that by one year, so it turned out pretty good.
“You have to have a plan if you’re going to get somewhere, and it doesn’t always turn out that way,” Kurt said. But it sure did this time.
The Superhorse title came down to the last set of finals -- the junior heading and the junior heeling. When Ticket To Starfire and Pro Horseman Brad Lund captured the junior heading world championship, the Superhorse title hinged on their performance in the junior heeling.
What were the Harrises doing up in the stands?
“Keeping score!” Kurt said.
When Brad and Ticket To Starfire placed fourth in the heeling, Kurt knew Lilly had the title.
“I got up and went to the stall to get her ready (for the presentation),” he said.
This is J.D.’s third Superhorse to be a part of: He rode Popular Resortfigure to the title in 2002 and along with Bob Avila helped Smoke Um Okie to the title in 1986.
“After you win one, you don’t ever think there’s going to be another one,” J.D. said. “If you look, those Superhorse dates are pretty far apart. I’ve been fortunate enough to get to ride some good horses and have good people to work with on these horses.
“I’ve got a great bunch of people at home that work for me. Without really great owners and a whole group of people, (such as) my family to help me when I’m gone, without all those people, this wouldn’t be possible.
“The (Harrises) have been great support,” he continued. “They’ll back up anything I ask to do with their mare; they just say, whatever you think she needs. From a trainer’s standpoint, that’s a great thing to have owners that let you do that.”
