Cutting-bred cat blood runs through the breakaway fields at the Old West World Championships, which open Sunday, Oct. 11, at the Amarillo Tri-State Fairgrounds in Amarillo, Texas.
Of the 25 breakaway horses whose papers could be found, at least 19 carry High Brow Cat within their first four generations. Eight have Metallic Cat on the top side, through seven different sons. And Dual Rey, the 1994 son of Dual Pep, shows up in the first three generations of nine.
The Pre-Futurity Breakaway has 14 entries and the Futurity Breakaway 13, for 26 horses in all. Mr Suavemente is entered in both. Whizkey For The Queen, by Whizkey N Diamonds out of Big Time Movie Star, is dual-registered with APHA and AQHA, but the full papers could not be found, so the analysis covers the other 25. Pedigrees are AQHA records accessed through QuarterHorseResource.com.
Both classes run Rounds 1 and 2 Sunday starting at 8 a.m.
Metallic Cat’s sons
No single sire dominates the breakaway. Only two have more than one foal entered: Stevie Rey Von and Reyzin The Cash, with two each.
Go back a generation and the picture changes. Metallic Cat, a 2005 son of High Brow Cat, shows up on the top side of eight of the 25 horses as the sire of their sire. Each of those eight is by a different son, except for the two Stevie Rey Von foals:
Stevie Rey Von sired Dually Von Rey (Futurity) and SLR Stevie Chick (Pre-Futurity). Metallic Rebel sired Shez A Flashy Rebel, Metallic Rey Mink sired Diva In Mink, Metallic Masterpiece sired Masterpiece Returns, Metallic Crush sired TMS Dual Crush, Malleable Metal sired Marigold Metal and Hal Of A Run sired Chisums Metallic.
Six of the eight are in the Pre-Futurity Breakaway, which makes the Metallic Cat line the clearest trend among the 4-year-olds.
High Brow Cat, top and bottom
High Brow Cat shows up on both sides of the papers. On the bottom side, three entries are out of High Brow Cat mares: Intentionall, Queen Of Sparkles and Playin Catty Style. Four more go back to a High Brow Cat mare one generation further down the bottom side: Disturbindapeace, Beerbongs N Bentlys, Reyzin Royals and Shez A Flashy Rebel.
Through his sons, he is closer still on the top side. Bamacat, the sire of Frenchmans Bama, is by High Brow Cat. So are Smooth As A Cat, sire of Smooth Talkin Style, who sired Mr Suavemente; Bet Hesa Cat, sire of Quahadi, who sired Quanahs Style; and Cat Ichi, sire of The Animal, who sired Sheza Gucciful. SJR Ferarri Mist’s sire, SJR Diamond Mist, is out of a High Brow Cat mare.
Shez A Flashy Rebel carries High Brow Cat twice in four generations: through Metallic Cat on the top side and through her dam’s dam, a High Brow Cat mare, on the bottom side.
The Dual Rey thread
Dual Rey is the other recurring name. He sired Reyzin The Cash, the sire of Intentionall and Reyzin Royals. He sired Katniss, the dam of Shez A Flashy Rebel, which puts him on her bottom side. Four sires in the field are out of Dual Rey mares: Stevie Rey Von, Shiney Outlaw, Dual Reyish and Metallic Rey Mink.
Disturbindapeace’s dam is by Reys Dual Badger, another Dual Rey son. That puts Dual Rey in the first three generations of nine horses: Intentionall, Reyzin Royals, Shez A Flashy Rebel, Dually Von Rey, SLR Stevie Chick, Kid Outlaw, Beerbongs N Bentlys, Diva In Mink and Disturbindapeace.
Smart Little Lena appears in the first three generations of four pedigrees. Diva In Mink is out of a Smart Little Lena mare, and so are three sires in the field: One Time Pepto, Metallic Crush and Malleable Metal.
The outcrosses
Six horses carry no High Brow Cat in the generations checked.
Gals Got Major Shine, a 2021 sorrel mare in the Futurity, is by Shining Lil Stik and out of Le Pine Gal, a daughter of Major Le Zeb. Alexa Major owns and rides her, and AQHA lists Alexa Major Wilcox as her breeder.
Hang Em Wranglers is by Wranglered, a son of Starlights Wrangler, out of a Hangten Peppy mare. My Guns R Singing is by Guns R For Shootin, a son of the reining sire Colonels Smoking Gun. Natural Silksation is by Natural Bottom, a son of Playboys Buck Fever. Kid Outlaw is by Shiney Outlaw out of a Dual Pep mare, and Shanks Big Woody is by Woody Be Tuff out of an SDP Blue Blood mare.
Where the money has gone
The cat lines are cashing checks, too. All four of Old West’s open breakaway champions this year are by Metallic Cat sons or a High Brow Cat grandson. At Guthrie, Futurity winner Evereything is by Stevie Rey Von and Pre-Futurity winner Dont Quote Me is by Taggline, both Metallic Cat sons. At Heber City, Futurity winner Hez Talkin Smack is by High Brow Cat grandson Smooth Talkin Style, and Pre-Futurity winner Thiccthirty is by another Metallic Cat son, Metallic Cattack.
QData’s 2026 breakaway leader board shows how much of the rest is numbers. High Brow Cat sits on the top side of 41 breakaway money-earners this year as the sire of their sire, twice as many as Metallic Cat or Dual Rey with 20 each. Those High Brow Cat horses average $4,743. Metallic Cat’s average $11,023. Dual Rey’s 20 lead the list at $931,584, but $776,456 of that is one horse by his son Reys Dual Badger.
Money won by 4-, 5- and 6-year-olds is spread wider. Reyzin The Cash, a Dual Rey son, leads those sires at $104,692 from three horses. Woody Be Tuff, a son of Nitas Wood, is next at $59,871 from six. High Brow Cat son Kit Kat Sugar has $58,649, followed by Metallic Cat sons Taggline, Stevie Rey Von and Metallic Cattack. Natural Silksation, entered here, put Natural Bottom on the list at $22,355 with no High Brow Cat in the generations checked.
Ages and breeders
Every Pre-Futurity Breakaway horse with papers on file is a 2022 foal. The Futurity Breakaway has five 2020 foals, seven 2021 foals and one 2022 foal, Mr Suavemente, who doubles up as a 4-year-old.
No breeder has more than two horses in the breakaway. Burnett Ranches bred two, Frenchmans Bama and Masterpiece Returns, and San Juan Ranch bred two, Queen Of Sparkles and SJR Ferarri Mist. Utah State University bred Reyzin Royals, the Pre-Futurity mare by Reyzin The Cash out of a Peptoboonsmal mare. She already owns two Old West breakaway sale-graduate side-pot wins this year, $40,000 at Guthrie and $50,000 at Heber City.
The riders
Two riders account for eight of the 26 horses, and neither leans on one bloodline.
Sarah Jo Angelone rides four horses by four different sires: Dually Von Rey by Stevie Rey Von, My Guns R Singing by Guns R For Shootin, Diva In Mink by Metallic Rey Mink and Shez A Flashy Rebel by Metallic Rebel. Marissa Boisjoli’s four are just as varied: Intentionall by Reyzin The Cash, Queen Of Sparkles by CD Diamond, Beerbongs N Bentlys by Dual Reyish and Shanks Big Woody by Woody Be Tuff.
Maci Berry and Macie Rae Warken ride three each. Warken’s three are all entered for the Youth 19-&-Under incentive.
The field
Futurity Breakaway
#3248 GALS GOT MAJOR SHINE
Shining Lil Stik x Le Pine Gal x Major Le Zeb
2021 sorrel mare · Breeder: Alexa Major Wilcox
Rider: Alexa Major · Owner: Alexa Major
#3245 MR SUAVEMENTE
Smooth Talkin Style x Desarey x Little Jazzarey
2022 sorrel gelding · Breeder: Lee L Tennison
Rider: Annie Vick · Owner: Annie Vick
#3134 QUANAHS STYLE
Quahadi x Ms Cynthias Style x Mr Playinstylish
2021 sorrel gelding · Breeder: Daniel Ranch Ltd.
Rider: Brandi McDowell · Owner: Shawn and Rickki Moyer
#3109 DISTURBINDAPEACE
One Time Pepto x Jazakitty x Reys Dual Badger
2020 red roan gelding · Breeder: Doug Pritchett
Rider: Hope Thompson · Owner: Lari Dee Guy
#3030 HANG EM WRANGLERS
Wranglered x Hangten Freckles x Hangten Peppy
2021 palomino mare · Breeder: Riverwind Performance Horses
Rider: Maci Berry · Owner: Maci Berry
#3093 CHISUMS METALLIC
Hal Of A Run x Lenas Merada Talks x Meradas Money Talks
2020 sorrel stallion · Breeder: Curtis Carl Chisum
Rider: Maci Berry · Owner: Kreese Milligan
#3092 KID OUTLAW
Shiney Outlaw x Dualin Darlene x Dual Pep
2021 bay gelding · Breeder: 70 Ranch Performance Horses
Rider: Macie Rae Warken · Owner: V Warken Ranching Ltd.
#3142 INTENTIONALL
Reyzin The Cash x Cats Good Intentions x High Brow Cat
2021 sorrel gelding · Breeder: Barlow Livestock
Rider: Marissa Boisjoli · Owner: Robert and Connie Rust
#3332 QUEEN OF SPARKLES
CD Diamond x Highly Unlimited x High Brow Cat
2020 buckskin mare · Breeder: San Juan Ranch
Rider: Marissa Boisjoli · Owner: Queendom Equine
#3333 BEERBONGS N BENTLYS
Dual Reyish x One Smoking Cat x One Time Pepto
2021 bay gelding · Breeder: James A Frahm
Rider: Marissa Boisjoli · Owner: Queendom Equine
#3076 PLAYIN CATTY STYLE
Playin Stylish x Caspers Cat x High Brow Cat
2020 sorrel mare · Breeder: A&C Racing and Roping
Rider: Quealy Probst · Owner: 3 String Cattle
#3183 FRENCHMANS BAMA
Bamacat x Frenchmans Whiskey x Paddys Irish Whiskey
2021 bay mare · Breeder: Burnett Ranches
Rider: Rainey Lynn Skelton · Owner: Reliance Ranches
#3037 DUALLY VON REY
Stevie Rey Von x Takes Alotta Faith x Kit Dual
2020 red roan stallion · Breeder: Wade Knight
Rider: Sarah Jo Angelone · Owner: Lowrance Horse Division
Pre-Futurity Breakaway
#3245 MR SUAVEMENTE
Smooth Talkin Style x Desarey x Little Jazzarey
2022 sorrel gelding · Breeder: Lee L Tennison
Rider: Annie Vick · Owner: Annie Vick
#3135 NATURAL SILKSATION
Natural Bottom x Heavenly Silksation x High Caliber Kurtis
2022 gray gelding · Breeder: Clay Seal
Rider: Brandi McDowell · Owner: Shawn and Rickki Moyer
#3110 SHEZA GUCCIFUL
The Animal x Dmac Spoon Tango x Hes A Peptospoonful
2022 red roan mare · Breeder: Cathy D Reist-Herrmann
Rider: Hope Thompson · Owner: Hope Ashley Thompson
#3017 MASTERPIECE RETURNS
Metallic Masterpiece x Royalty Return x Royal Fletch
2022 palomino mare · Breeder: Burnett Ranches
Rider: Jackie Crawford · Owner: Jackie Crawford
#3241 WHIZKEY FOR THE QUEEN
Whizkey N Diamonds x Big Time Movie Star
APHA/AQHA dual-registered
Rider: Jackie Crawford · Owner: Tel Flewelling
#3031 TMS DUAL CRUSH
Metallic Crush x Dual With Freckles x Dualin Damon
2022 red roan gelding · Breeder: Scott and Britta Milligan
Rider: Maci Berry · Owner: Tyler and Madison Straub
#3090 SLR STEVIE CHICK
Stevie Rey Von x Pekisko Chic A Dee x Olena Oak
2022 chestnut mare · Breeder: Stump Lake Ranch
Rider: Macie Rae Warken · Owner: V Warken Ranching Ltd.
#3091 SJR FERARRI MIST
SJR Diamond Mist x Whizs Katrina x Topsail Whiz
2022 bay mare · Breeder: San Juan Ranch
Rider: Macie Rae Warken · Owner: V Warken Ranching Ltd.
#3334 SHANKS BIG WOODY
Woody Be Tuff x Playmates Blue Blood x SDP Blue Blood
2022 sorrel stallion · Breeder: Shank Randell Edwards
Rider: Marissa Boisjoli · Owner: Queendom Equine
#3074 REYZIN ROYALS
Reyzin The Cash x Queen Cisco x Peptoboonsmal
2022 bay mare · Breeder: Utah State University
Rider: Quealy Probst · Owner: Reyzin Royals Partnership
#2967 MARIGOLD METAL
Malleable Metal x MRC War Gold x Seven S Shining Gold
2022 palomino mare · Breeder: John R Anderson
Rider: Saige Johnson · Owner: Karson Johnson
#2974 MY GUNS R SINGING
Guns R For Shootin x Singing In The Rein x Master Snapper
2022 sorrel stallion · Breeder: Humphrey Quarter Horses Inc
Rider: Sarah Jo Angelone · Owner: Sarah Jo Angelone
#2975 DIVA IN MINK
Metallic Rey Mink x Diva In Denim x Smart Little Lena
2022 bay roan mare · Breeder: W S Morris III
Rider: Sarah Jo Angelone · Owner: Burnett Ranches
#3126 SHEZ A FLASHY REBEL
Metallic Rebel x Katniss x Dual Rey
2022 sorrel mare · Breeder: Beau and Ashley Galyean
Rider: Sarah Jo Angelone · Owner: X Performance Horses
