Jazlyn and James Payne win Back To Back NCHA Triple Crown Championships
After winning the Super Stakes in March, on July 20, Jazlyn and James Payne returned to the Will Rogers’ arena winner circle in the Open 4-Year-Old finals with a definitive 230 score, taking home over $50,000 in cash.
The 2020 roan mare (Hashtags x MK Cats Kitty x Spots Hot), nicknamed “Hashtags” after her sire, has been owned by Kathleen Moore of Madill, Oklahoma, since she was a yearling, and Payne has trained her from the start. He says she’s a sweet mare, but quirky. Idiosyncrasies aside, she’s a force in the pen.
“She’s so intense on a cow,” Payne said. “She was a bit stiff in the face and hard to get broke as a 2-year-old and her first part of her 3-year-old year. But then she got more tied to the cow. That’s when she started climbing the ranks of all her competition.”
Payne had three mares going into the NCHA Futurity last fall. Leading up to that event, Jazlyn started coming together.
“She was basically in the back of the crowd waving her hand saying ‘Hey, pick me, pick me,’” Payne said. “From that point on, she became the best horse I had. At this point in the game, if my trailer leaves, she’s not staying home. She’s just the best one I’ve got.”
Going in to this event, Payne wanted to do his part to help the mare get to the finals, and avoid errors. The mare draws attention every time she steps into the pen, and it adds pressure on the rider.
“I just wanted to make sure I did my job in most of the go-rounds because I had a lot of faith in the mare for the finals,” Payne said.
Both Payne and Jazlyn played their parts, making it to the finals, and then demonstrating an impressive performance in the finals, scoring a 230 to clinch the title. They won $50,512 for their efforts.
“It’s a little surreal to have won the Super Stakes, and then come back and win the Derby,” Payne said. “Everybody strives to do good in this pen, and so it’s really cool to be able to execute in the Will Rogers arena and pull it off. The mare is an elite level cow horse that you just want to stay out of her way, and she’s going to pull you through.”
Payne thanked his wife, his crew at home in Marietta, Oklahoma, and Kathleen Moore for having faith in him to train and show her horses.
Taking the reserve title, Ryan Rapp of Weatherford, Texas, guided 2020 sorrel gelding Dont Stop Swingin (Dont Stopp Believin x Swing Thru The Drive x Hydrive Cat) to the reserve championship with a score of 229. The gelding is owned by Philip and Mary Ann Rapp of Weatherford, and he won $42,577.
Fellow competitor Austin Shepard congratulates James Payne on his 230 score. * Photo by Amy Olson