2010 NCHA Futurity Champion Earned His Title


There are dozens, perhaps hundreds, of horses registered with the AQHA each year using either 'royal' or 'royalty' in their names. Of all those, perhaps one or two a year deserve the name. It speaks of background, performance, and elegance that goes beyond the usual. Along came One Time Royalty, a gorgeous bay stallion son of One Time Pepto out of Royal Serena Belle. Just by pedigree, this colt deserved his name.

One Time Pepto has been the most talked about young stallion ever since Jeffrey Matthews, after a number of visits with the colt prior to the sale, finally took ownership with a high bid up over $300,000, at that time as high as any yearling had ever gone. He was a son of the living legend, Peptoboonsmal, and out of a big producing mare, One Time Soon. We all know Peptoboonsmal's record as a sire and a producer, and One Time Soon is a multiple producer of offspring earnings closing in on One Million Dollars. The pretty young red roan went into the Matthews program and went to Matt Gaines where he build a career with over $300,000 before retiring sound in his four-year-old year. With a marketing program to match any in the industry, some of the best mares in the country came to his court from the beginning. He sold out his book each year at Oswood Stallion Station and his first foal crop arrived on the scene in 2010. These first offspring were riding on their sire's performance record and pedigree. So again, a check mark on performance in the sire's pedigree earns the royal in One Time Royalty's name.

His dam, Royal Serena Belle, is a daughter of Shorty Lena and out of the stunning Doc Quixote mare Jazabelle Quixote, Both sire and dam had pedigree and performance records to give them royal status. But Royal Serena Belle went beyond just pedigree. Her owner, Gail Holmes of Double Dove Ranch in Colorado and now Texas, demands that her mares prove themselves beyond just pedigree and so she was turned over to the capable hand, Lloyd Cox, a long-time friend and trainer for the Holmes family. Cox developed her for the NCHA Futurity, where she made her reputation as the 1996 NCHA Futurity Reserve Champion. So even without the 'royal' in her name, this mare earned her title. Another check mark, this time royalty in the colt's name was earned by performance to match the pedigree.

Matthews Cutting Horses purchased One Time Royalty and he went into a two-year-old training program that was built by Matthews after his own apprenticeship on the Coast with Vaquero-style horsemanship taught by Tony Amaral, one of the great bridle horse trainers of his generation. It was an easy decision to send the colt to Lloyd Cox for his training as a futurity prospect. After all, it would be Cox's thirteenth time to the finals at the NCHA Futurity and there was no gamble, especially considering his ride on the dam of this young blueblood. It was one of the most anticipated futurities in years. Much of it because of an intense marketing campaign undertaken by Matthews and his working relationship with marketing and graphics company Pacific Range for Matthews'One Time Pepto offspring. It was 'do or die' for the futurity entries and there is little doubt as to the record-breaking performances turned in. Two Championships, Open and Non-Pro, both by One Time Pepto's first foal crop. It had never been done before..

And adding to the luster of the Futurity crown that went to One Time Royalty was the record-breaking finals score of 230. This, after some bad luck in the semi-finals and a long wait to see if they even made the finals added to the drama. So it was certainly not good luck that brought the 230. One Time Royalty showed his cow sense, his canny intelligence and an intensity that is only seen rarely. He proved himself not just as a cow horse, but as an exceptional athlete and as a horse with a huge heart. He was tried by all three cows in the finals and never gave an inch, so along with the 'royalty' he so richly deserves in his name, he deserves acknowledgement for pure raw courage under fire.

So now, after a hard decision, One Time Royalty has new ownership 'down under' with SDM Quarter Horses, who did a little research on their new stallion and announced in their first ad that he had seven NCHA
Futurity Champions in the first three generations. There are four behind One Time Pepto and three behind Royal Serena Belle. His Australian mares are being covered by frozen semen said to be 'as good as it gets' by Oswood Stallion Station owner Jeff Oswood. His frozen semen is available through Select Breeders in Texas while One Time Royalty will be shown lightly while he stands to the US mares at Oswood Stallion Station in Weatherford. Shipped semen is available and the cutting horse business is richer for this royal young stallion in the breeding barn.