Drawing last is not what a cutter wants, especially in Augusta.

Drawing last is not what a cutter wants, especially in Augusta.

But Lloyd Cox and Halreycious not only survived starting in the last hole Monday but notched the top score. The pair scored a masterful 220 to win the Classic Open second go-round Monday at James Brown Arena.

Cox and Halreycious enter the championship round with the top aggregate score of 434. Cox, of Fort Morgan, Colo., has three of the top 10 horses in the finals, with Sophisticated Cat at 432 and Reydiculous at 431.

All-time Augusta Futurity titleholder Phil Rapp of Weatherford, Texas, is the only other cutter with three horses in the finals. Rapp and Autumn Acre tied Tag Rice and Copaspepto for the round's second-best score at 218. Rapp and Autumn Acre enter the finals with the second-highest combined total (433.5).

Twenty-one horses with aggregate scores of 429 or better advanced to the finals, which will be held Thursday night.

After marking 214 in the first go-round, Cox and Halreycious, a 6-year-old stud by Dual Rey out of Stylish Play Lena, needed an above-average score to advance.

Riding last in the bunch of 11 horses, the pair received a little luck. Five of the previous 10 horses lost a cow, giving Cox and his horse a better selection to choose from.

"There were a few cows left, because there were a few walkouts early on," he said. "My help did a good job of picking the cattle and I got them cut pretty good. The horse was good today. And it worked out.

"I wasn't trying to mark that much. I was just trying to hold what I cut."

2007 Classic Open champion Austin Shepard will have two chances to claim a second Augusta title. Aboard Ginas Cat, the Summerdale, Ala., cutter marked consecutive 216s for a 432 total. Aboard San Tule Uno, he rung up 215.5 for a total of 431.5.

Success hasn't spoiled Shepard. The 30-year-old said nothing has changed since winning the National Cutting Horse Association World Championship Futurity, the circuit's crown jewel, in December.

Shepard couldn't be a prima donna if he wanted, especially during this show. He's been in Augusta since the Futurity began and he'll be here when it ends Saturday. Every morning, he wakes at 4 a.m. to prepare the 25 horses he brought along.

"You just get back to the normal grind, I guess," he said.

Shepard won three major titles in 2007, including this event, the Millionheir Classic ($300,000 in earnings) and the NCHA Futurity ($250,000). He said the Augusta win, his first here, helped kick off the year.

"It's always good starting the year off winning something," he said. "Doing well gets you rolling."

Reach Chris Gay at (706) 823-3645 or chris.gay@augustachronicle.com.