Skooby Do Does Sire Proud in NSHA Futurity

Sometimes, it’s good to be back where it all began.

For Justin Wright, winning the National Stock Horse Association (NSHA) Futurity Open Championship with Skooby Do was gratifying for the stallion’s owner and breeder, Lesley Kearney. It was great to win with a talented 3-year-old at a major prep for the National Reined Cow Horse Association (NRCHA) Snaffle Bit Futurity. It also was exciting to take home a title in the same event he won six years ago aboard Skooby Do’s sire, Scooter Kat.

“[Skooby Do] has always had that little extra spark to him, it seemed like, all the way through,” Wright said of the stallion, who won with a composite of 662. “The owners are just the nicest people in the world, and this is the first real Open horse that they’ve ever had. They they had a feeling about him when he was a baby and sent him out [to be trained].

“It’s not something that they commonly do, and so it just kind of a neat story, how it all worked out.”

Skooby Do’s win Sunday, Aug. 25, wrapped up a big weekend for his sire at the South Point Hotel, Casino and Spa. In addition to siring the Open winner, Scooter Kat also was the sire of Futurity Intermediate Open Champion Scoot On By and Wright qualified for the 2025 The Run For A Million Cow Horse Challenge on Scooter Kat himself.

In the years since his win in the 2018 NSHA Futurity, Scooter Kat blazed a path through the reined cow horse aged events, transitioned into the bridle and is currently the all-time leading money-earning reined cow horse in EquiStat with more than $610,223—and still showing. Skooby Do is from his second foal crop to show.

Skooby Do’s career is still young, but Wright likes what he sees in the stallion out of WCR Ruby Slippers (By Mister Dual Pep).

“The neat thing about [the Scooter Kats] is they show up and work for you,” he said. “Not not only ‘Skooby,’ but all of them—they show up and work for you day in and day out. And then when you get to the show, you know they’re there and they’re on your team. And it’s funny, It’s a similar trait to Scooter Kat, where he always felt like he wanted to win.”

However, don’t think being eager to do a job and wanting to win means Skooby is prone to stress or anxiety. It’s just the opposite. Wright said the stallion is an exceptionally chill individual.

“He’s super laid back, and so not much bothers him at all,” he said. “Leaving [the show venue in Las Vegas], I’m pretty sure he has no idea that he’s gotten shown.”

Skooby Do’s win the NSHA Futurity Open brought home a $35,000 paycheck for Kearney. He is his dam’s first money-winning offspring in EquiStat. Scooter Kat has now sired the earners of more than $158,000.

Skooby’s immediate show plans haven’t been decided, but it’s safe to say Wright’s next goal is this year’s NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity in Fort Worth, Texas.

“I’m just very grateful to have another good one,” he said.