Big Payouts for Maidens at The Premier 2026

Memorial Day was a busy day at the Premier, with the show paying tribute to the fallen and those currently serving prior to the two maiden classes on Monday. The afternoon continued with some huge payouts to the exhibitors and owners showing horses in the Maiden Three Year Old and Over Hunter Under Saddle and Western Pleasure futurities – in those two classes alone, $115,000 was distributed.

Griffin Grabs First In Maiden Western Pleasure Futurity 

Only On Nettflix, piloted by Aaron Moses for Dr. Gail Mason, earned the first place paycheck of $17,500 in the Three Year Old and Older Maiden Western Pleasure Futurity.

“’Griffin’ is by Nothin But Nett, and Casey and Deanna Willis bred him,” Aaron explained. “Kelby and Kaitlyn Hutchinson started him and we bought him from them last year.”

Gail explained, “I got a call from my trainer, Jeff Temple, telling me that we needed to fly to North Carolina to Kelby’s to see him. We went – and we weren’t buying anything – but once we saw him, that was over quickly and we bought him. Kelby and Aaron worked together, and Griffin made his way to Aaron’s. I just kind of waited it out and we decided to debut here. There are so many options for the maiden classes now, which is nice, but what a great place to show for the first time. It worked out great.”

“The Premier has such a great payout that it is a great place to show,” Aaron added. “Claire (Binkowski) does a great job with the show and with all the support she provides. It looks like we picked the right show for Griffin!”

The team had focused on the Premier and has not yet made future plans for Griffin’s debut show season. “He may have a Non-Pro part to his career later on,” Aaron explained. “We’ll have to wait and see where we go next.”

The Three Year Old and Over Maiden Western Pleasure paid a total purse of $65,000. The top five placings included:

Champions: Only On Nettflix, Aaron Moses for Dr. Gail Mason, $17,500
Reserve Champions: Fiire N Mice, Angie Cannizzaro for Voge Quarter Horses, $14,000
Third: I Hott, Bret Parrish for Courtney Stephens, $10,000
Fourth: Invited By The Best, Mike Hachtel for Jane Backes, $8,000
Fifth: Nett Jets, Katie Green for Susan Johns, $7,000

Enchanting Go For Enchantted In Maiden Hunter Under Saddle

It was an emotional win for Jennifer Goss with Enchantted. “Jennifer actually bred and raised her, and then we got her in October. She’s super quiet and good size, has amazing feet – we don’t even have shoes on her,” noted owner Megan Brown. Megan had both the first place horse and third place horses in the class, with Alyse Roberts showing Makn Me Willy Sleepy to third in the class.

“Our whole plan was for Jennifer to get to show her here in the maiden class. Her barn name is Dillon because Jennifer really wanted a stud colt, but she got a girl, and she named it Dillon anyway.”

Megan was pleased with Jennifer and Dillon’s debut class. “She just looked really comfortable,” she said. “Dillon has come a long way in a short time, and she and Jennifer just really mesh well together. It was a special ride, and it’s really special because getting this trophy has been on my bucket list, and now we have one. It’s very cool.” The team also won $11,500 for the first place finish.

“We’ll probably be doing the NSBA World Show and the Congress and show in the three year old events. I try to let the trainers show for a while but I plan to add a Non-Pro career later,” Megan said.

The top five placings in the class included:

Champions: Enchantted, Jennifer Goss for Megan Brown, $11,500
Reserve Champions: We Do It Best, Keith Miller for Wendy Shuknecht, $9,000
Third: Makn Me Willy Sleepy, Alyse Roberts for Megan Brown, $6,500
Fourth: Nothin But Beaches, Laura Spell for Jill Stenroos, $4,750
Fifth: Best Dek Yet, Beth Case for Chris Lagerblade, $4,000

Houston Wins Three Year Old Trail Stakes

The Trail futurity champions stayed in the family when Carmen Mayabb showed Show Off Machine to the win in the Three Year Old Trail Stakes for owner Robin Shiflett. She joined her husband, Nick, who won both the Four and Five Year Old Open Trail Stakes and the Four Year Old and Over Maiden Trail Stakes earlier in the show.

“Robin raised this horse, and we got him him when he was two,” Carmen said. “We started showing him in Trail in March. He’s like a big dog. Robin was in Houston when he was born, so his barn name became Houston. He’s by Machine Made.

“Honestly I don’t think I would have changed anything about our go. I was really pleased with it,” Carmen explained.

The other Trail class of the day on Memorial Day was the Open/Non-Pro Trail Challenge Stakes. Professionals perform half the pattern while their Non-Pro counterparts performed the second half of the pattern, and the rides were performed to music. Horses from Blake Weis’ barn took the top two spots with Hot Lopin Lilly earning first and Made For Naturdays earning second.

The Premier continues through Friday, May 29. To view complete show results, please visit premiersires.com/thepremier.

Press release and interviews provided by NSBA: Big Payouts For Maidens At The Premier – National Snaffle Bit Association