The Equine Chronicle Masters event kicked off this evening at the 2011 All American Quarter Horse Congress, with horse and rider introductions under the lights of a completely packed Celeste arena. Everyone filed in early to get a seat for the first event of the night, the Equine Chronicle Masters 2-Year-Old Hunter Under Saddle.

22 entries saddled up to compete in the class tonight, which was reserved for maiden two-year-old hunter under saddle horses only. When the final score cards were turned in, it was Deanna Searles with Lastcallfour Alcohol who claimed the top prize of the Masters title, bronze trophy, Blue Ribbon saddle, and a guaranteed $50,000 purse.

Searles tells us that the aptly named “Bud,” gets his namesake from her stepfather, who raised the colt himself in Oregon.

“We named him Bud, like Budweiser, after my stepdad, because he raised him up in Oregon,” Searles says. “He had him up there and he always drinks Budweiser, so we called him Bud and made his show name Lastcallfour Alcohol.”

Although there are a few notable differences between Bud and his sire, Allocate Your Assets, like the fact that Bud stands at 17.3 hands tall, Searles says he definitely takes after his father’s temperament.

“He just went in there, and packed me around, and was such a good boy,” she says. “It’s like he has been doing this all his life. Nothing bothers him.”

“His mentality is just like his dad’s. That’s what I fell in love with in the first place. He also has the look and is strong. He has something special about him.”

Searles placed third in the Masters Hunter Under Saddle the first year it took place at the Congress, but this is her first win.

“It’s so surreal,” she says. “I’m so proud of him. It was a good ride and I was happy that I got to win on a good ride.”