2014 Futurity: CCNF Championships & 1st Place Finishes
The title “Futurity Champion” brings with it perhaps more cachet than any other term in the US alpaca industry. Though the Futurity is often not the largest alpaca show in the country, it has always been the toughest. It is unquestionably the Major Leagues to every other large show’s AAA ball. If you are in the the ribbons at the Futurity, it means you have done something right in your breeding program. It is perhaps the only show from which farms and ranches with established breeding programs will regularly market show placings outside of the top 3. To a great degree that is simply because no one bothers entering any animal into the Futurity that is just so-so, it’s simply not worth the expense. Breeders bring the absolute best. It’s not uncommon in the least for animals that have won Championships at other shows to in fact get the gate at this show. Not because they are bad alpacas but rather because sometimes there were more than 6 other Champions in a single halter class. It definitely feels rather intimidating at times. We have arrived at many a Futurity over the years thinking that we had a real shot at some major wins, or at the very least a chance to compete, only to get knocked down a peg or three over the course of the show’s 2 days.
We have always gone to the Futurity, if nothing else, for the purpose of using the show as a measuring stick to compare our breeding program against the best alpacas that this country can produce. Though not always fun per se, it certainly has always been an education. Though it can feel a bit like the magic mirror in Snow White sometimes: careful what you ask, as the answers aren’t always flattering…
This year we showed up in Kansas City in relative force, with 30 alpacas fit rather snuggly into our large trailer. It took my friend Dave Serino and I two semi-long days to get out to KC. Though even with a little fuel filter drama in our truck when we were still 90 miles out of the city, the animals were all settled in and under fans in their show pens by late Thursday morning. Not bad, given that we had left VT mid morning on Tuesday less than 48 hours after wrapping up proceedings at the NAAS. Once setup was completed, that left us time to go get the truck fixed and to explore the restaurant scene in my favorite show city, including midday BBQ and beers on Friday, which as everyone knows is good for the soul!
Our show string at the Futurity was split almost right down the middle between yearlings and juveniles, as well as males and females. Though we had crias sired by several of our Herdsires with us, there is no doubt that our string, more by circumstance than by design, carried a distinctive Matrix Majestyish flavor to it. This was particularly true in our older animals, as Majesty’s first crop of crias born here at CCNF are now approaching their 2nd birthdays and he had been a busy boy in the summer of 2012!
Though our results garnered at this year’s Futurity were not nearly as gaudy as those from the North American the week before, we had never expected them to be either. We have learned the hard way that when you head to the Futurity, one must ratchet your expectations down. Sometimes way down. At the end of the day though, we were thrilled to have done as well as we did (results below) and it easily goes down as our best Futurity ever. It was a very nice way to close out our spring 2014 show season!
I would of course be remiss if I failed to talk about our emerging new rockstar. CCNF Centurion, in addition to being sired by Snowmass Matrix Majesty (whose kids also won his Get of Sire Class, by the way), is also the younger maternal brother of CCNF Elixir, himself the winner of the Judges’ Choice award at the 2012 Futurity and the first CCNF alpaca to have ever won such an accolade at a Futurity. Because of who and what his older brother is, Centurion had been marked for close monitoring almost since he was born. As I have written before, there was considerable internal discussion about whether we should even saddle the poor little dude (who did look like a little tank even at a month of age) with a name like Centurion. His dam, CCNF Ascension, is one of the top Archangel daughters in our foundation herd and it’s safe to say that having made two of these now, that we feel that we probably have a good handle on how to breed her, don’t you think? In any case, we are looking forward at the very least to the prospect of having one Futurity Judges’ Choice winning brother possibly back up another when Elixir has to go back to our partner’s farm (A Paca Fun Farm) in Maryland in the early fall. There is no question that we can always use more of that in our herd!
CCNF Magistrate (Snowmass Matrix Majesty x SHRA Virtual’s Reality) – Champion Brown Huacaya Male
CCNF Marick (Snowmass Matrix Majesty x Maid Marian) – Reserve Champion Brown Huacaya Male
CCNF Precipice (Snowmass Matrix Majesty x CCNF Pristine) – Best Bred & Owned Huacaya Male
CCNF Eternal Rose (Snowmass Matrix Majesty x CCNF Johanna) – Best Bred & Owned Huacaya Female
Spirit Wind’s Maestro (Xanadu P. Concerto x Aussie Colorado Philly) – Champion Fawn Huacaya Male
CCNF Daliance (Snowmass Sub-Zero x CCNF Flirtatious) – Reserve Champion White Huacaya Female
CCNF Centurion (Snowmass Matrix Majesty x CCNF Ascension) – Champion White Huacaya Male
CCNF Centurion – Judges’ Choice Huacaya Male
Snowmass Matrix Majesty (CCNF Moonbeam, CCNF Magistrate, CCNF Precipice) – 1st Place Get of Sire (Dark)
CCNF Magistrate (Snowmass Matrix Majesty x SHRA Virtual’s Reality) – 1st Place Dark/Medium Brown Yearling Huacaya Males
CCNF Margaux (Snowmass Matrix Majesty x CCNF Marguerite) – 1st Place Dark/Medium Brown Yearling Huacaya Females
CCNF Precipice (Snowmass Matrix Majesty x CCNF Pristine) – 1st Place Dark Bred & Owned Yearling Males
CCNF Eternal Rose (Snowmass Matrix Majesty x CCNF Johanna) – 1st Place Dark Bred & Owned Yearling Females
Spirit Wind’s Maestro (Xanadu P. Concerto x Aussie Colorado Philly) – 1st Place Fawn Yearling Males
CCNF State of Grace (Snowmass Elite Legend x CCNF Infinite Grace) – 1st Place Light Bred & Owned Juvenile Females
CCNF Daliance (Snowmass Sub-Zero x CCNF Flirtatious) – 1st Place White Yearling Huacaya Females
CCNF Eldunari (Snowmass Elite Legend x CCNF Saphira) – 1st Place White Juvenile Huacaya Males
CCNF Centurion (Snowmass Matrix Majesty x CCNF Ascension) – 1st Place White Yearling Huacaya Males
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