8/17/2008
Congratulations Katy Jo Pickard and Sure Am Hot, winner of the Equine Sports Medicine $250,000 Two Year Old Western Pleasure Challenge. Katy Jo is not only the first woman to win, she is the first unanimous decision winner and the youngest rider to win the Equine Sports Medicine Challenge.
The judges for the evening were Jennifer Thompson, Robin Frid, Gretchen Mathes, Nancy Sue Ryan, Dean Bogart and Murray Griggs. They were all in agreement that Pickard and the two year Sure Am Hot by Blazing Hot were the winner.
“This is Amazing!” said Pickard just after winning the $100,000 paycheck. “I lost it after the first judge but I got myself together. When they called out the third judge and that was the hardest.”
“We bought this horse as a yearling and I broke him,” says Pickard. “Thank you to Scott and Roma Thomson for buying this horse and thank you to Gil Galyean and the Dempze’s, his new owners, for giving me a chance to show him in this class.”
“I knew I was the underdog when I loped in there and I had no choice but to go for it. I lifted my hat and played to the crowd because I know it might be a very long time until I have another horse like this,” said Pickard.
And what is Pickard going to do with the money? “Pay off my mortgage. This is money from God!”
The Top-5 were:
1st – Sure Am Hot, Katy Jo Pickard
2nd – KM All Of A Sudden, Greg Wheat
3rd – Cutelicious, Tina Kaven
4th – Extremely Hot Chips, Wade Black
5th – Long Awaited Invite, Jeff Long
