Ruby Too, a 4-year-old clone of 1987 mare Playboys Ruby (Freckles Playboy x Lenachick x Doc O'Lena), became the first cloned horse to ever compete at a limited-age cutting event on Jan. 27 and Jan. 28 at the 2010 Augusta Futurity in Augusta, Ga.
Ruby Too, owned by Waco Bend Ranch, Graham, Texas, marked a 207 with ranch manager Ray Baldwin during the first-round of the 4-Year-Old Futurity Non-Pro division on Jan. 28, after marking a 203 in the first-go of the Open division the previous day. The horse did not make the finals in either division, but showed some progress, Baldwin said.
"She was a lot better today. It was the second time I've been on her," Baldwin said. "I got on her a couple of months ago and worked a cow or two on her at Phil's [Phil and Mary Ann Rapp's cutting ranch in Weatherford, Texas]. We got along better than I thought. I didn't get my third cow cut and I think that hurt our score. She is improving."
Turner West, an assistant trainer working with Phil Rapp, competed with Ruby Too in the Open division in Augusta, after marking a 70 with her during the mare's first cutting at the Silverado complex near Weatherford, Texas in mid January, Baldwin said.
"Turner has been working with her the past couple of months," Baldwin said, adding he expected the clone horse to debut at late fall's 2009 NCHA Futurity, but she had to be held out due to soreness. "He [West] showed her Wednesday [Jan. 27 in Augusta's 4-Year-Old Futurity Open] and marked a 203 and didn't get along with her. It didn't look great. She was a lot better today [with Baldwin during the Non-Pro first go on Jan. 28]."
Ruby Too is a genetic clone of a 23-year-old mare that earned $268,441 as a cutter and has produced 12 foals that have earned about $1.6 million so far. Expecting her to match Playboys Ruby's success as a cutter or producer appears unrealistic, Baldwin said.
"We [Waco Bend Ranch] bought Playboys Ruby and the clone came along with her," Baldwin said. "Performance wise, she was average today [Jan. 28], better than I expected,
She has the potential to be a solid horse. Is she going to be one of those superstars? I don't think so. But it's all to be determined," Baldwin said.
"I have been proven wrong many times in my life," he added. "I think at this point, we are going to keep showing her. We are going to keep her in training. At some point, if she doesn't really pick it up and kind of gets left behind, then we'll probably just breed her. At this point, we are going to keep working her [as a cutting competitor]."
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