Beau Peterson and Aldo The Apache won the 6 and Under Maturity Breakaway average at the 2026 Gold Buckle Futurities Spring Showdown, anchoring a five-horse run that produced $60,429 in associated earnings across breakaway and tie down divisions.
Peterson—the 6-year-old gelding’s owner and rider—posted a four-round total of 927.10 to top the field. The average win paid $11,460. She also took Round 2 outright with a 231.98 for $1,500 and won the Elite Stallions Incentive on Aldo The Apache, an $11,500 payout split between sire Kit Kat Sugar’s enrolled program and Peterson as the rider.
“He stood in the box perfect and he just ran and rate that calf,” Peterson said. “He makes the same run every single time, no matter what the calf is.”
Cheyanne McCartney sat second in the average on Treston Brazile’s Icingonthedeal at 923.89, with TJ Good’s Evereything third at 923.15.
Peterson padded the ledger on three more horses she rode for other owners. She finished fifth in the Maturity Breakaway average on Bar One Land and Cattle’s Kitty Corona at 912.47, then placed fourth in the Elite Stallions Incentive ($2,875) and first in the Elite Breeders Incentive ($6,000) on the Beechfork Ranch-bred mare—pushing the Kitty Corona total to $12,313. She rode Vickie Adams’ Alloy Catt to sixth in the average at 905.78 for another $2,674.
In the 4 and Under Futurity Breakaway, Peterson placed second on Rusty and Tammy McCarthy’s Villains Hot Rod at 920.03, paying $7,665. She rode Haven and Shelby Meged’s Afulldancecard to fourth in the average at 915.53 and third in the Elite Stallions Incentive, a combined $7,780.
Aldo The Apache placed fifth in the Maturity Tie Down average under rider Trevor Hale at 873.93, paying $3,100 to Peterson as owner, plus a fourth-place run in the Elite Stallions Incentive worth another $2,437.
“He gets tied down on probably 10, 15 calves a year and he stays working,” Peterson said. “He just loves what he does. Everyone that’s rode him in the tie down are great riders, and so that’s a testament to them.”
The Spring Showdown follows a ProRodeo win for Peterson at Guymon Pioneer Days last weekend, where she went 9.6 seconds on three head of fresh calves to claim $4,881 and move to the top of the Prairie Circuit standings.
She bought Aldo The Apache—sired by Kit Kat Sugar out of the Terry Riddle-bred mare DMac Easter Bunny—as a 3-year-old.
“He could have been a flop or turned out to be something, and he turned out to be something,” Peterson said. “He’s been so trainable and easy from day one.”
The gelding got the call at the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo as a 5-year-old and returned this year as a 6-year-old, part of a futurity-and-maturity program Peterson said is reshaping how young rope horses come along.
“You’re able to take them and put them on really big stages sooner and earlier in their lives, and they handle it well,” she said.
Asked about a rodeo summer on Aldo, Peterson hedged.
“He might hit the rodeo trail next summer. I don’t have any plans for him,” she said. “It’s going to be hard to get rid of him because he’s such a great horse, and he’s paid for himself time and time again.”
Quick reference—Peterson’s placings at the 2026 GBF Spring Showdown:
As owner (Aldo The Apache) — $29,997:
- Maturity Breakaway: 1st in average ($11,460); 1st in Round 2 ($1,500); 1st Elite Stallions Incentive ($11,500)
- Maturity Tie Down (rider Trevor Hale): 5th in average ($3,100); 4th Elite Stallions Incentive ($2,437)
As rider (other owners’ horses) — $30,432:
- Maturity Breakaway, Kitty Corona (Bar One Land and Cattle): 5th in average ($3,438); 4th Elite Stallions Incentive ($2,875); 1st Elite Breeders Incentive ($6,000)
- Maturity Breakaway, Alloy Catt (Vickie Adams): 6th in average ($2,674)
- Futurity Breakaway, Villains Hot Rod (Rusty and Tammy McCarthy): 2nd in average ($7,665)
- Futurity Breakaway, Afulldancecard (Haven/Shelby Meged): 4th in average ($2,555); 3rd Elite Stallions Incentive ($5,225)
Total earnings: $60,429
