Taft Dickerson rode Made By J, to a win tonight in the Hylton Maiden 3-Year-Old & Over Western Pleasure at the Virginia Classic Quarter Horse Show in Lexington, earning $32,762. Judges for this year’s event were Larry Little, Will Knabenshue, Kelly McDowall and Mike Carter.

“She was there every step of the way,” Dickerson said of Made By J. “I just wanted not to mess her up. It was a great ride.

Made By J, a 2012 bay mare, is sired by Machine Made and out of Dark Jasmine. Dr Candice Hall and Cory Seebach, of Vancouver, British Columbia, who own Machine Made, purchased Made By J two weeks ago when their trainer, Gil Galyean, called and told them he saw her at a show in Ohio.

“We haven’t even seen her in person but Gil said she’s a special horse and the best Machine Made he’s seen,” says Cory Seebach. “He said she had Candice’s name written all over her.”

Seebach and Hall can’t wait to see her in person and watch her show.

“We are so happy for Taft and Machine Made,” says Cory Seebach. “We are just sad we can’t be there to take it all in but can’t wait for Candice to start showing her.”
Taking home a check in the amount of $12,554.75 for being Reserve Champions and a $6,000 bonus for being the highest placing Intermediate Rider are Steve Reams and Southern Comfort Zone, sired by Inesistable Sudden and out of Flashy Looking Lady. Southern Comfort Zone is owned by Wesley Smith.

A total of 23 horses were entered and 20 showed this year for a total purse of $91,050 in the event now in its fifth year.

The highest placing Limited rider, Courtney Chown, will pocket an additional $4,000.

The Hyton Maiden 3-Year-Old & Over Western Pleasure class, is made possible by the generous financial support of Cecilia Hylton, of Hylton Quarter Horses in Gainesville, Virginia, who contributes $50,000 herself to the class.

“We at Hylton Quarter Horses are pleased to continue to be one of the highest paying futurity events in the country,” says Lucas Cash, head trainer at Hylton Quarter Horses.

Originally the class was held during the Reichert Celebration but in an effort to bring interest back to the East Coast and to her home state, Hylton moved the class to the Virginia Classic in 2010.

“Some of the best horses are on the East Coast and there aren’t many big events,” Hylton says. “The class has been received really well and a lot of trainers and owners hold horses back so they can qualify for it.”

In fact, the idea of the class being a maiden event for 3-year-old and older horses was in an effort to discourage trainers from pushing 2-year-old horses too early, and Hylton hopes the large purse will encourage trainers to wait on their young horses.

“I have seen so many good horses go to the pen as 2-year-olds that are never seen again,” Hylton says. “I can’t twist anyone’s arm but I hoped to set an example with this class.”

Top 10 Results:

1^st – $32,762.50 – Made By J (Machine Made x Dark Jasmine) Taft Dickerson for Hall/Seebach.

2^nd – $12,554.75 – Southern Comfort Zone (Inesistable Sudden x Flashy Looking Lady) Steve Reams for Wesley Smith.

3^rd – $9,174.63 – Im Hot In Blue (VS Code Blue x Simple Stuff) Pat Heeley for Donna Biddulph.

4^th– $6,277.37 – Life Is A Breeze (Invitation Only x Zippin The Breeze) Brian Baker for Looney Quarter Horses LLC.

5^th – $4,828.75 – Rolling In Hot – (Blazing Hot x Impulsive Love) Katy Jo Zuidema for Tankersley & Cameron.

6^th – $4,345.87 – Momma Knous Best (RL Best Of Sudden x Hot Little Moma) Katie Green for Capital Quarter Horses.

7^th – $3,863 – The Monie Man (Certain Potential x Huntin For Money) Cole Baker for Carla McMullen.

8^th – $2,897 – Shes A Lopin Machine (A Good Machine x Hot Lopin Louise) Kristy Starnes for Cathy Starnes.

9^th – $2,414.37 plus $4,000 limited bonus, Chum Machine (Machine Made x Radical Roxanne), owned and shown by Courtney Chown.

10^th– $1,931.50 – Wisely Lopin (Lazy Loper x Wisely Zippin) Brian Rastall for Andrea Rowland.