Cremona, May 23 — Day two of the 16th edition of the NRHA European Futurity, held during the international horse fair Salone del Cavallo Americano, saw 88 riders competing in the second section of the MS Diamonds TX Open qualifier. Open to 4-year-old horses enrolled in the NRHA Nomination Program, this year’s event marks the first time the added money in a European reining event hits the $1.000.000 mark.
128 horse-rider combinations entered the CremonaFiere arena vying for a spot in the $206,199-Added MS Diamonds TX Open Finals which will be held on Saturday, May 25. The top 20 scores plus ties in the Level (L) 2, 3 and 4, plus the top 15 in L1 qualified for the Finals. The day in the city of violins closed with the Draw Party presented by Cuore Cavalli where the order of go for both the Open and Non Pro divisions was determined.
Italian Manuel Cortesi piloted Frozen Sven to an impressive score of 222 to top the $103,099-Added L4 division. The 4-year-old stallion by the NRHA Two Million Dollar Sire SG Frozen Enterprize out of Ladymaster is co-owned by Cuoghi-Arcese and was nominated by Impresa Agricola Cuoghi. “My run was pretty good today,” shared Cortesi who reined the powerful stallion to the IRHA Futurity Open Reserve Championship as well as the German Breeders Futurity last year. “My horse listened to me right from the beginning and I am happy about how he showed. It will be different in the finals, because there is always more pressure; you have to go faster, focus more on every step, and everything becomes harder. Sometimes, when you push more, you get less, so it is not always the best approach. I don’t have a special plan for the finals but for sure we have to try harder and run. He’s pretty seasoned from last year, and it’s been some time since the last show, but this first run here was good, so we will take it from there and see what happens in the finals.”
Closing the qualifier was Stefano Cerutti of Italy who rode his mount Questionably Frozen (SG Frozen Enterprize x Unquestionably Crome) to a strong 220.5 leading the $51,549-Added L3 division. The stallion is owned by Stefano Scotti and was nominated by Lorenzo Lotti.
Dutch Petra van Ede rode Arjan van de Watering’s owned and nominated stallion Epic Star (ARC Gunnabeabigstar x Spooks Fancy Diamond) to a 218 to lead the $36,084-Added L2 division. The $15,464-Added L1 saw a two-way tie for the lead with two Italian riders sharing a 214 score: Matteo di Giamberardino riding H Mercy Affair (Mercedes Rooster x A Trashy Affair), a mare owned by Giuseppe Muzi and nominated by Wolfgang Hammer; and Steven della Casa aboard Lenas Frozen Gun (Hollywood Gun Dunnit x Frozen Sparn), a gelding owned and nominated by Cisal QH.
French rider Arnaud Girinon was on the top of the leaderboard with a 221.5 most of the day with Sabatino QH Srl’s entry QQ Merlin Whizard (NRHA Million Dollar Sire Colonels Shining Gun x Whiz a Blue). The duo lost the lead in the L4 but walked out topping the L4 European Futurity Open APHA Chrome Cash Incentive go round. The stallion was nominated by Chiara Colombi.
The numbers
L4 entries – 46
L3 entries – 42
L2 entries – 47
L1 entries – 28
Friday action will feature the NRHA Youth and Open ancillary classes held concurrent with the 2025 World Reining qualifiers followed by the $88,371-Added NRHA European Futurity Non Pro Finals.
Photos Bonaga Communication
For further information, live stream and live score: NRHAEUROPEANFUTURITY.com
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