Two Gunnatrashya Sons Crowned 100X Brazos Slide Open Futurity Co-Champions

As one of the first futurities of the season, the 100X Brazos Slide, held July 24-28 at the Extraco Events Center in Waco, Texas, drew in a whopping 55 entries for the 100X Level 4 Open Futurity. When it was all said and done, both Good Statistics, ridden by Jordan Larson, as well as Alpha Viking, under the saddle of Gabriel Diano, landed tied together at the top of the leaderboard. Each marked a 223, collecting $7,400 a piece for their owners.

Larson went into the Open Futurity intending to test out where Good Statistics was at in his training while also trying to plus each maneuver. He was excited by how confident the stallion felt this early in the year.

“He’s a horse that we had high hopes for, so it’s pretty exciting when they actually go out there and show like they’re capable of,” said Larson, who also won the Level 3 Open and another $5,175 with Good Statistics. “He has more in there, as I’m sure other people’s horses do as well, so it will be just trying to get him solid, keep him healthy and keep building on that.”

He thanked Ixtul Quarter Horses LLC for trusting him to buy Good Statistics. The stallion (Gunnatrashya x Shesouttayourleague x Walla Walla Whiz) has solid family lines behind him, and Larson hopes for big things from him this futurity season.

“He’s got some pretty fancy family, and we were hoping he’d kind of follow the family tree,” Larson said. “He’s not limited in any way talent-wise, but you just never know what they’re going to show like. One thing about him is he’s real confident, and he showed like that, so that was cool.”

Larson additionally thanked his wife, Taylor, and the Larson Performance Horses crew for working so hard, and God for giving him the opportunity to ride nice horses for a living.

For Diano, it was special to tie for the win on Alpha Viking since the stallion is a homebred belonging to him and his wife, Maria. His mom, Lia Riccetto, owns Alpha Viking’s dam, and from the beginning, she wanted Diano to show the stallion.

“There have been a lot of offers on that horse, I mean, we are talking serious money for that horse, and she didn’t even think about it. She wouldn’t sell him,” Diano said. “She wanted me to go show. She said, ‘No, this one you will have to show until you say you don’t want to show him anymore.’”

Alpha Viking (Gunnatrashya x Rock It With Sass x Wimpys Little Step) was locked in all week at the Brazos Slide, Diano said. He had a little trouble with the deep ground and didn’t slide like he does at home, but rather than pushing him and potentially scaring him at this first show, Diano focused on the positives of their run.

“He felt like a derby horse,” Diano said. “It was his first time in the show pen and one-handed, and he was amazing. If you watch the run, he doesn’t look like a 3-year-old. He was unbelievable. He always had his ears forward, and he was enjoying what he was doing. I was so happy with him.” Diano was excited for Alpha Viking’s future and couldn’t wait for the upcoming National Reining Horse Association Futurity this fall.