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Yet again, Metallic Cat is etching brand new cutting horse history. For the first time ever, the top American Quarter Horse/National Cutting Horse Association Leading Sire and Dam belong to a single owner.

Both Metallic Cat, the top sire of 2016, and Sweet Abra, the top dam of 2016, belong to Alvin and Becky Fults, Amarillo, Texas.

“We are gratified beyond words,” Alvin expressed. “First of all, we are grateful to the mare owners who believed in Metallic Cat, and then we’re so appreciative of the trainers and owners who put so much into the training and showing of his offspring. This is truly a team effort.”

Speaking of teaming up: the magical mix of Metallic Cat and Sweet Abra produced Metallic Rebel, the stallion who finished the 2016 show season as the No. 1 offspring of his sire and dam. The Fults bred Metallic Rebel and sold the stallion as a 3-year-old to Thomas Guinn from Mississippi. Shown by Beau Galyean, Metallic Rebel won $156,133 during 2016, according to Robin Glenn Pedigrees, which included Open Classic Championships at multiple major limited-age events.

Taking a look at the season totals, Metallic Cat had 343 foals work their way to $4.1 million in 2016, according to Equi-Stat. Sweet Abra had seven offspring post $282,003 for the year.

The Fults purchased Metallic Cat in 2008, the same year he won the NCHA Futurity with Galyean riding. The stallion has $637,711 in lifetime earnings and is the top-earning son of High Brow Cat, the cutting industry’s all-time leading stallion. According to Robin Glenn Pedigrees, Metallic Cat’s sire record stands at $13.9 million through early July 2017, putting him the lead for the first half of this year. In fact, Metallic Cat was the top-earning sire for every single major limited-age cutting event through June, including the NCHA Super Stakes where his foals earned an astounding $831,500.

“We loved watching Denver [Metallic Cat’s barn name] show, but seeing his babies succeed has been even better,” Becky said. “It was especially thrilling last year because his leading foal was out of our mare. That surpassed anything we could have imagined.”

Sweet Abra is a 2003 mare by Abrakadabracre out of The Better Choice by SR Instant Choice. She won $120,151 in the show pen and so far she has 11 foals that have won $867,005. Metallic Rebel is her highest-earning foal with $305,626, followed by: Sweet Metallic (2010 mare), $157,607; Magic Metallic (2010 mare), $137,204; and Magistic Moon (2011 mare), $132,443. All four of her top earners are by Metallic Cat.

This matchup has proven quite successful with the Metallic Cat/Sweet Abra foals having won $819,941, according to Robin Glenn Pedigrees. Plus there are several more of those prospects in the pipeline – weanlings, yearlings, 2-year-olds, and one 3-year-old that is paid up for the 2017 NCHA Futurity. Also, by a wide margin Metallic Rebel is leading the field for the 2017 NCHA Open Horse of The Year honor.

“It’s truly been an amazing time for us,” Alvin said. “We’re just so pleased with our stallion and mare, and together they’ve made it doubly special. Again, we could never have accomplished this without the people – the mare owners, the show horse owners and the trainers – who believed in our program. And now we’re looking ahead to what happens for the rest of this year. It’s very exciting!