To sweep world championship titles across three divisions—Open, Amateur and Youth—spread out between two shows that are three months apart is no easy feat, but Red Hot N Stylish has made it seem effortless. The 2014 bay overo mare by Hes Stylin and out of Redhot Clusified LL was honored at the 2018 APHA World Championship on September 27 with the Scarlet Print Award—presented to horses that have achieved this significant feat—for the third time in her career.
The atmosphere in the Watt Arena was electric as Jason Smith entered the show pen with the well-known mare at his side for Open Aged Mares. “Jade” had won the Amateur Aged Mares earlier in the week with Bob Cassata, husband of owner Joyce Cassata. During the 2018 APHA Youth World Championship Show, Jade earned a world championship in the Youth Aged Mares with the Cassatas’ great-granddaughter, Georgia Cook, on Georgia’s seventh birthday.
When the results for Open Aged Mares were announced, Red Hot N Stylish cemented the world championship to accomplish her third sweep and won a Scarlet Print tie-breaker over TNR Say Grace. As Bob and Joyce, along with trainer Kelley Stone, made their way to the arena to accept the Scarlet Print trophy, members of the crowd stopped to congratulate them.
“It’s amazing,” Bob said. “This year is special because our great-granddaughter showed her.”
The Cassatas’ Double C Acres in Morganton, North Carolina, also owned the only other three-time winner of the Scarlet Print Award: One Cool Hint, who earned the award in 2001, 2002 and 2003. Jade was bred by Boncita Ranch Inc. of Aubrey, Texas, and is trained by Kelley Deignan-Stone of Diamond 2M Show Horses in Sanger, Texas.
“She’s probably been the most spectacular Paint mare I’ve ever had the opportunity to fit and show,” Kelley said. “She’s been a privilege for us to have since she was a baby. She’s always been great-balanced, high quality and excellently made. Her structure has carried her through. Every year as she gets older, she gets bigger and more massive. But it’s not that that makes her special—it’s that she’s always been made so well. She’s a rare individual.”
The Scarlet Print Award is presented in honor of Scarlet Print, a 1991 overo mare who earned 10 world championships in only four years. She was owned by Michelle Engle of Bakersfield, California, who established the award after the mare retired from the show ring in 1995.
With Jade’s third sweep of the Scarlet Print Award, she has stamped her name in the history books, but she has always had a special place in Joyce’s heart.
“When Miss Joyce saw her, the most special thing was that she loved her color,” Kelley said. “That mare is the only mare of Double C Acres that’s in Joyce’s name because that’s her mare, let’s be clear. We branded her that way because the overo spot on her right side is a big ‘J’ for Joyce–we’re sure of it.”
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