Moore Ranch - Delta Flyer Article

"DELTA FLYER WINS
NCHA SUPER STAKES"
The Paint Horse Journal July, 1986
APHA copyright 1977
Paint horse history was made at the National Cutting Horse Association Super Stakes held May 3 at Will Rogers Coliseum in Fort Worth, Texas, when Delta Flyer, a 1982 sorrel tobiano stallion, won the finals of the prestigious cutting event. Delta Flyer earned a purse of $170,004 for the win.

A total of 351 non-pro and open competitors vied for $1,486,759 at the Super Stakes.

Kenny Patterson is shown in these photographs with Delta Flyer, winner of the NCHA Super Stakes held during May in Fort Worth, Texas.

Patterson rode Delta Flyer in the competition, winning a purse of $170,004. Delta Flyer's sire is Peppy San Badger, 1980 NCHA Reserve World Champion. (His show record in 1986)

     Those two horses tied for second place with scores of 218 1/2. Claiming a leading position from the beginning, Delta Flyer opened his scoring with a 220.  In the semi-finals, Delta Flyer tallied 2121/2.

     Patterson cut three cows in the finals. According to Delta Flyer's trainer, that performance was the best the horse had ever turned in during a show.

     Delta Flyer had been shown only four times prior to the Super Stakes, winning approximately $1,500. According to Patterson, the stallion performed well at home but didn't reach his competitive peak until the Super Stakes.

     Delta Flyer's dam is Delta -- one of the first horses Patterson rode in cutting competition. The only Paint mare ever named to the NCHA Hall of Fame, Delta was second in the NCHA World Championships in 1973 and Patterson rode her to fifth place in the 1977 Top Ten NCHA standings.

When Patterson found out in 1984 that country-western singer Lynn Anderson wanted to sell Delta, he and Moore negotiated to purchase Delta, Delta Flyer and a half-brother to Delta Flyer.

Patterson began training the then 2-year-old Delta Flyer and rode him on the Sun Circuit and the Oklahoma Futurity prior to taking him to the Super Stakes.

Delta Flyer's achievement at the Super Stakes is a milestone event for the American Paint Horse Association, according to Association President, Bill Bryan.

"We've been at the doorstep for a long time and now we've walked through the door," said Bryan. "Our breeding has come so far in the last several years--our horses are excelling and competing on the same level as breeds that have been in it a lot longer.

Ridden by Kenny Patterson of Madisonville, Texas, for owner Floyd Moore of Huntsville, Texas, Delta Flyer scored 2201/2 in the finals, edging out Miss Silver Pistol and Especials Quixote.

(Linda Blake-Caddel photos)