08/14/2026
🇺🇸 The West Coast was well represented in Las Vegas!
Congratulations to everyone who competed in last night’s Cutting at The Run For A Million at the South Point Arena & Equestrian Center. The level of competition was nothing short of incredible!
A special PCCHA congratulations goes to our own West Coast friend and representative, Debbie Day, on capturing the Non-Pro Championship aboard Kat Play with a phenomenal 229!
We're incredibly proud to see Debbie, several of our friends and West Coast bred horses, represent the Pacific Coast on one of the sport's biggest stages.
Congratulations to Austin Shepard and Rollz Eh, owned by Billy Wolf, on their outstanding Open Cutting Championship performance and an incredible 231!
Be sure to check out and share the original post from The Run For A Million—it's a night worth celebrating! 👏
𝐃𝐞𝐛𝐛𝐢𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐊𝐚𝐭 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝟐𝟐𝟗 𝐭𝐨 𝐖𝐢𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐍𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐨 𝐂𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐮𝐧 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐀 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧
The crowd’s roar filled the South Point Arena & Equestrian Center as Debbie Day and Kat Play cut their final cow, marking a 229 to take a lead they would not relinquish in the inaugural $𝟏𝟐𝟓𝐤 𝐍𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐨 𝐂𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞 at The Run For A Million in Las Vegas.
The victory paid $27,500 to the team from Reno, Nevada.
“𝘐 𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 - 𝘢 229 - 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘰𝘸𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦. 𝘏𝘦’𝘴 𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘭,” Day said. “𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦. 𝘈 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘐 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸, 𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘴. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦, 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘰𝘶𝘴.”
The environment in the South Point during the Non Pro Cutting Horse Challenge was enough to make anyone nervous, but mounted aboard her trusty equine partner, Day says she simply enjoyed the experience and focused on her job. She drew on the coaching from her trainer Monty Buntin Cutting Horses, a $3.8 million rider and National Cutting Horse Association Hall of Famer.
“𝘔𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘸, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 [𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦] 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘯-𝘵𝘩𝘦-𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱, 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘵,” Day said. “𝘛𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘸, 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐’𝘮 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 ‘𝘊𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵, 𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘢 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨!’ 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐’𝘮 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦.”
Kat Play (Kit Kat Sugar x NQH Shadow Play x Playgun) has been a special mount for both Day and her trainer. Buntin rode him to the Reserve Championship at the 2024 TRFAM Cutting Horse Challenge, and Day won the 7 & Up on him at the Bosque Ranch Winter Bash this year to qualify for TRFAM Non Pro Cutting Challenge.
The 2016 gelding owned by Dacole Investment Company and bred by Jim and Gay Karhan has well over $500,000 in lifetime earnings, and Day is closing in on the $1 million mark herself. She says TRFAM Non Pro Cutting Challenge victory is her greatest accomplishment in the cutting pen.
“𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘶𝘯 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘈 𝘔𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯?! 𝘐 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯, 𝘮𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘴𝘩. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘛𝘢𝘺𝘭𝘰𝘳 𝘚𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 [𝘢𝘥𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘰𝘯 𝘗𝘳𝘰 𝘊𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦]. 𝘚𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘐 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘉𝘢𝘴𝘩! 𝘞𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴, 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦, 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯. 𝘐𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵,” Day said.
