Of the 37 4-year-olds, five appeared on the 2006 top futurity horse chart as 3-year-olds.

Dash Ta Fame was the predominant sire with 14 of the top 50 futurity horses. Fire Water Flit, Dashin Is Easy and Dash For Perks each sired two horses on the list.
The Marthas Six Moons mare Mulberry Canyon Moon (“Macy”) was the leading horse with $141,713. The 2003 gray mare, out of De Streaker, by Osage Streaker (TB), was bred by Jim Rod and Pamela Gerhart, Merkel, Texas.
Michael Boone, Tyrone, Pa., purchased Macy in February 2005. He waited until July to start the “smallish” mare, and almost a year later, sent her to Troy Crumrine for the finishing touches. (Be sure to check on next month’s leading owner story to learn more about Boone and Macy.)
Macy and Crumrine’s first competition was the $100,000 Pro Tour Futurity in Oklahoma, but the duo hit the third barrel to win it. In a previous interview with Tanya Randall, Boone noted Macy had a tendency to be plagued by the barrel bug.
“She doesn’t really hit the barrels going into them; she turns so hard she hits them coming back out,” Boone explains.
He credited Crumrine’s mental toughness with seeing the mare through her problem.

“Troy’s really done a good job with that horse,” he says. “When she’s hit a couple of barrels, he’s never gotten discouraged. He did what he had to do when he needed to and that’s what makes him the best in the business, in my opinion.”

Mulberry Canyon Moon’s Futurity Earnings:
Futurity   Place Earnings
Central Mississippi  3 $2,932
Good Times   26 $2,507
Lance Graves Pro Classic 4 $2,644
Lance Graves Invitational 1 $100,000
Silver Cup   22 $2,607
IBRA Lewisburg, OH 2 $2,341
Old Fort Days  3 $14,234
Gold Cup   2 $12,188
Indiana Fututity   $843*
BFA World Championship 50 $1,416
*Go-round Money

The leading 5-year-old futurity horse was Chiefly, a 2002 gelding owned and ridden by Craig Stritzke, Chewelah, Wash. The gelding, by First Down Dash out of Especially Phoebe, by Special Effort out of the great Dash For Cash mare, Dashing Phoebe, was bred by Blane Schvaneveldt, Cypress, Calif.
 
Chiefly’s Futurity Earnings:
Futurity   Place Earnings
High Desert Barrel Bash  $223*
Sand Cup   1 $2,496
VGBRA Barrel Daze 3 $3,990
WBRA   1 $2,610
South Country   $702*
Southern Spurs  3 $1,839
Idaho Futurity   $567*
Meet Me In Montana 1 $53
Barrel Of Gold  2 $1,898
North Dakota Futurity 4 $1,210
Whoop-Up Futurity  3 $3,709
High Desert Barrel Classic 6 $447
*Go-round Money

The leading 3-year-old, Bet Or Check (PT) (“Herbert”) won $101,600 under the guidance of Leslie Willis, Chester, S.C., who along with her husband, Jason, co-owns the gelding with Mike and Janelle Green of Southern Rose Ranch, Pelzer, S.C. Herbert is by Dashin Is Easy out of Fabulous Angel (PT), by Raise A Jet (PT), and was bred by Herbert Graham, Gardendale, Texas.
The Willises purchased Herbert in the fall of his 2-year-old year at the Heritage Place Fall Sale in October 2006. They gave $2,200 for the gelding who had five starts on the track on which he placed second twice and earned a speed index of 89.
In February 2007, the Willises consigned Herbert to the Lance Graves sale thus making him eligible for the $27,500-added closed LG Futurity. The bidding stopped on a bid of $9,750 from the Greens. The Willises had made a deal with the Greens to ride the gelding for 90 more days after which they repurchased an interest in the horse.

Bet Or Check’s Futurity Earnings:
Futurity   Place Earnings
BFA Super Stakes  1 $100,000
World Juvenile   $754*
Clack-A-Drome   $846*
*Go-round Money

Cody Bauserman — In his own words
On the state of the futurity industry: “I don’t think they’re going to get big again. Your futurities like [the World in] Oklahoma City and [Old Fort Days in] Fort Smith are going to survive, and there will always be a few in between.”

On the slot races: “I think the creation of the slot races will help the professional rider. A lot of people don’t realize that they’re not getting added money from sponsors for those races. That’s our own money and our owner’s money that we’re throwing out there and running at.”

On running 3-year-olds: “I might get a little more aggressive with my younger horses. Even though no one wants to hear that, but that’s where the money is.”

On living with diabetes: “I’ve been doing alright. I still have to give myself shots and check my blood sugar a lot. The more you live with it, the better you get at it.”

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