 Well folks, the promise of potential was realized by all those who made it to the 2017 NCHA Ferturity final But only one horse came out on top tonight as a proven winner And that was Jewel Ray ish who was ridden by the very accomplished Austin Shepard and they marked a fabulous two twenty-eight. Congratulations. Thank you. How do you do it? I mean my god Well, you know it it takes a really good horse first and he's in he's an exceptional horse he's as good a horse as I've ever ridden in my life and it takes that and that's first and foremost and then you know It takes hard work not just for me, but from everybody that has something to do with it I mean my son Kate. He's lived with that horse all year Taking care of him and and and you know my help and my turn back help I mean there's there's too many people to name but It fits for a reason and it's not just me Okay, it takes a village sometimes, but you've got to take a bit of the credit I'll take some credit, but You know Everything's got to fit and everything doesn't fit if everybody's not wanting you to win. When did you know this horse was special? Tell us about the characteristics of this horse, you know, I bought him at the Superstakes Greg Smith called me Kate Smith's father and and he said that he said I think this horse would really fit you and During the Superstakes my back was out and so I wasn't able to ride him But I went out there and I'll watch Kate working And I really liked him and when my back got better towards the end of the show, I worked him and And and and he just he had a really good feel to him I liked watching him, but I like riding him even better and Throughout the year. He's just matured and gotten better and better. He's he's a special horse Now this is kind of historic what you've done because it's really the year of Austin Shepherd You won the Derby the summer then you won the Worlds a week ago now the Ferturity Your second Ferturity done ten years ago your first one. What does this mean to you? Oh, it means the world to me I mean, it's you know that this show is why we get up every day, you know It's it's hard, you know We go and and we get up early and some days are good some days are bad But this is the reason we keep getting up and trying is to come do get at this show and just to get in The finals is a great accomplishment and you know everything after this is outstanding, but And it's it's the most special opportunity you get in our business Describe you run to us and what your strategy was tonight, you know, I just wanted to be clean I wanted to make sure my cows were cut clean and if I cut the right kind of cow I wanted to be able to use my horse and I did and you know, I Mean I first time I ever made the finals here Leon Herald He told me he said, you know, he said that what you'll find the more you make the finals here is that One night it'll be your night and you you can't do anything wrong and and you know, it makes me look really smart when it works But it just it just fit and you know, like I said, it takes a great horse and great help But you know when it's your night, it's your night and I'm just happy for it to be my night Sometimes you get a feeling before and you get into the zone. Is that what happened? Yeah, I mean, I knew he was capable, you know, you don't ever know what's gonna happen I've had other horses that I thought were capable We definitely had a great feeling about him now Tell us about your cow choice because all the cows up until Jewelry's you know, the cows are running wall to wall and then bang all of a sudden you took control Was it just great cow choice or was it that you know, the horse is so good was just shutting down those cows or both? I think it was a combination. I mean, I actually the cow I was trying to cut first did not feel very good when I started to drive her up there and Bill Riddle was right beside me and helped me drive her out and he said, you know What's the other cow beside her? And I knew that was kind of a sign for that cow doesn't act very good And I pushed on her one more time and I felt it and the black baldy that I cut first was on the outside And I saw her and we talked about her one time settling and I thought you know what that cow never did anything wrong I'm gonna that's a better better decision. And so I cut her and then my second cow was a cow We really liked and we had talked about her and and right before I went and I asked Steve Olof Steve's a very good cow picker and I asked him his opinion and he said I love that cow And when I turned around third honestly, that was just a cow that was walking out there and the other cow with her didn't That good and so I cut her and like I said, it just it worked out. This is interesting about your whole program because You've won as we said the Derby the world's and tonight the Futurity on horses all by different size Which really speaks volumes for your program because you know, everyone's always got a you know, certain bias for certain bloodlines But they're three in one year bang Yeah, I mean I I Stick pretty close to the highbrow cats really out along really good with I'm counting check sources and This is the first full crop for hoddish. So The bottom line is is you everybody wants a good horse and a good horse can come out of the blue You know, you don't ever know but it just it just proves that you need to not be judgmental and judge the horse but You know, there are three outstanding horses and that that's their common characteristic We're gonna see some baby cats in the future. I think so we have some good ones coming for next year Okay, how did you feel you always look so calm and collected and cool when you were holes one and five And we're often speaking and you've you've won from you know last in the herd How did it feel having to go through everybody? Especially when Lee Franco came out and kicked up a whole lot of noise there and from the crowd Yeah, I mean it's nerve-wracking, but you know There's nothing you can do about it You do as good as you can do when you show and then you know we help everybody else does good, but I mean You know, it was a good cotton a lot of good horses and I knew I mean usually when you market to 28 You feel pretty good about it, but I knew the door was still just a little bit open So what does it mean now? What do you do? You can take a little break for a day or two? Yeah, maybe Yeah, maybe I'll be happy to be home for a little bit Well, I hope it's a great Christmas for you. You've deserved it. What a year. Congratulations. Thank you