Tom Powers has announced that he will be adding a 3-Year-Old Open and Limited Western Pleasure Stakes Class for horses that went through the 2015 Yearling Stakes Sale at his Michigan futurity but did not show this year in the 2-Year-Old Stakes Class.

“We thought we were closing the door on those horses that passed through the sale but didn’t get ready for whatever reason, to show in the 2-Year-Old Stakes Class,” Powers said. “As it was there was nothing for them at the end of that class. We thought it would be nice for them to have a closed class as 3-year-olds.”

The The 3-Year-Old Western Pleasure Stakes Class will be open only to 2015 sale graduates that did not show in this year’s Sale Stakes Class and Powers said it will run like other regular futurity classes with an entry fee and added money.

“It will likely have an entry fee of $500 and we will add $5,000,” he said. “It will probably go on Friday and run as one class like the 2-Year-Old Stakes Class is presented. Those 3-year-olds can have shown anywhere else but in our 2016 Sale Stakes Class.”

Powers said several trainers actually suggested having some type of closed class for those 2-year-old sale graduates that did not get to show. While he said he thought it was a good idea, Powers also said it was important to him that nothing be taken away from the 2-Year-Old Sale Stakes Class. There will be a guaranteed purse of at least $65,000 in 2017 with the winner of the Open Division earning $25,000 and the winner of the Limited Division taking home $10,000.

This year Pat Heeley rode Whose Your Bay Bae to his third win in the 2-Year-Old Sale Stakes Class in the past four years. Whose Your Bay Bae is a bay gelding sired by RL Best Of Sudden and out of Cool Krymsun Lady and is owned by Knapp Quarter Horses, Van Meter, Iowa.

Chase Barnes, of Warren, Pennsylvania, teamed with Hott Topic Man, sired by Battman and out of Rl Customized, to win the Limited Division. Hott Topic Man is owned by Jennifer Stein.

The Tom Powers Triple Challenge Futurity is the longest continuously running futurity in the world. It is presented each year in Berrien Springs, Michigan and features a full slate of open and National Snaffle Bit Association approved classes.

This year’s futurity boasted a total of 811 entries, a slight increase over last year’s futurity.

“People keep coming back to the futurity probably because they know that we are all trying our best to make their experience as fun as possible,” Powers said.

For additional information on the Tom Powers Triple Challenge Futurity visit the website at www.tompowersfuturity.com.