In 1998, a mare called Spin N Roses blitzed the Australian NCHA Futurity, winning both rounds and the final with John Mitchell. John then exported the mare to the US, and of her progeny, Cat N A Hat was a stand out. John Mitchell describes him as ‘an outstanding individual’.
John Mitchell says that right from the start Cat N A Hat had everything you could want in a horse. “From day 1 of his very first ride, he acted like a horse that was broken in. He had softness, cow, and ability – it was really incredible. He stands up as the quality horse that he is bred to be”.
Jason Leitch has said of Cat N A Hat, “He is one of the most athletic and cowy horses I have been involved with” (Horsezone, Five Minutes With Jason Leitch, April 2012).
Cat N A Hat competed in the US and won over $100,000 before being exported to Australia. His owners at the time, John Mitchell and Jason Leitch, believed strongly that he would be an ideal fit for the campdraft market.
While the plan was always to focus on his progeny, Cat N A Hat was given just a handful of starts campdrafting, to provide an opportunity to showcase his athletic ability.
“He took to it like a duck to water”, David Bell said. “From those few starts, he won 3 opens.”
In 2018 David Bell was sitting with mate Cameron Parker at the NCHA Futurity, watching horses in the practice pen, when Cameron took a call from Jason Leitch. David could tell something big was going on, and when the call ended, Cameron turned to him and said, “Jason Leitch is thinking of selling Cat N A Hat”.
For David Bell, this was a no-brainer. He already had progeny by the stallion, including JMD Fascinator, an NCHA Snafflebit Champion. He knew the horse, thought a lot of his progeny, and needed a stallion.
David and his wife Jess live at Dulkaninna Station, 80km north Marree on the Birdsville Track, 400 km south of Birdsville. To say they are isolated is an understatement. For them, having a station sire to breed to their mares is a lot more sensible than accessing vets and breeding centres.
So, on that fateful day, it took a matter of minutes for Cameron to call Jason Leitch back and tell him that David would buy the stallion. “We hadn’t even agreed on a price”, David said.
It worked well because David was able to honour rebreeds, and Cat N A Hat stood at stud for outside mares before going to Dulkaninna Station where he has been the resident sire until very recently.
David said that his family has a long history with horses, including breeding army horses many years ago. Gordon McKinlay ran schools on the station and David’s sister went on to work for Gordon, and then worked with horses in both Canada and the USA. David and Jess have had horses competing successfully in Stockmans Challenges with Jon Templeton, including a Cloncurry Challenge winner. From their involvement with Jon, they met people in challenges, campdrafting and cutting.
David has a keen eye for a quality horse. He said, “If we are going to own horses, we want them to be good ones”.
Cat N A Hat fitted into station life with ease. “He is so easy to have around. He can be in with mares, and the kids can wander out and hand-feed him. They can be sitting up on him in the middle of the paddock while he nibbles his pellets.”
David says that Cat N A Hat progeny are known to be level-headed and trainable. David has been continually impressed that regardless of what mare they are out of, they are all just as easy to be around as their sire. On the station, his progeny come in at weaning time unhandled and take to human interaction with no fuss.
His talented progeny are exceptional in both camprafting and cutting. JMD Fascinator won the 2023 Chinchilla Novice draft ridden by Matt Moffat, as well as the 2019 NCHA Snafflebit Futurity Championship. Matt has also had a lot of success on She Be A Cat, owned by Teah Beak, including winning the 2023 Sydney Royal Championship Campdraft, and finishing Reserve Champion at the same event in 2024.
Cat N A Hat progeny stood out at the 2024 NCHA Futurity, with a Champion and Reserve Champion, including one of David and Jess’s station-bred progeny Tom Cattin, who was Reserve Champion in the NCHA Gelding Futurity with Ryder Yates.
EB S Dig This Cat was the NCHA Futurity Open Classic Challenge Champion with Lincoln Veraart, and previously won the 2021 Autumn Spectacular Open Futurity at Scone with a huge 223.5-point score, ridden by Tyler Hodgman. There are other progeny winning and placing in both sports around Australia.
David and Jess have more young progeny coming along, including some in training with Matt Moffat.
Now that Cat N A Hat is 21 (as of 2024), David and Jess have decided to move him somewhere less isolated so he can access the best care in his senior years. He is in wonderful condition, and his semen has been tested and is of outstanding quality. This provided an opportunity for David and Jess to make Cat N A Hat available to the public again as a sire.
“He has ticked every one of our boxes. As a station sire, you couldn’t get better, and he breeds incredible performance horses.”
