Cody McCartney Banks $27,420 at Solo Select Futurity on Dont Quote Me, Thiccthirty

Cody McCartney swept the 2026 Solo Select Futurity Tie-Down at the Circle T Arena in Hamilton, Texas, on Sept. 30, marking a 301.44 in the clean-slate finals on Bailey and Tia Moore’s Dont Quote Me, “Muffin,” to win the futurity for $11,800, then placing third in the finals on Thiccthirty, “Thicky,” with a 291.45 that also won the sire pot, for another $14,620.

The two 4-year-olds paid McCartney $27,420 in a single day of the futurity’s tie-down roping, which offered $25,000 added and split the money 40% to the main pot and 60% to the sire pot for offspring of enrolled stallions.

“Top notch futurity,” McCartney said. “Added money was really, really good. Great calves, great production, just top notch all the way around.”

Dont Quote Me Wins Solo Select Futurity Tie-Down

Muffin was in the hunt every round. She and McCartney marked a 292.44 to place third in Round 1, won Round 2 with a 295.05 for $1,000 and came back with a 290.5 to place second in Round 3. The mare saved her best run for last in the clean slate finals, turning in a 301.44.

“It was a tough field,” McCartney said. “There was a lot of good horses and good ropers here.”

The 2022 red roan mare is by Taggline and out of BCR Popular Scotti, “Poppy,” a daughter of Popular Resortfigure. Poppy carried a long list of cowboys to the National Finals Rodeo, including Ryan Jarrett, Blane Cox and Tyler Milligan. The Moores bought Poppy from Cimarron Boardman, and McCartney rode her for several years before partnering with them on Muffin.

It hasn’t been Muffin’s first big weekend. At the 2026 Shane Hanchey Invitational in Waco, Texas, in March, she won the breakaway slot roping with Cheyanne McCartney for $18,500, and the next day Joel Braden Harris, who had never seen the mare before, won the tie-down slot roping average on her for $10,000. By June, she had $47,447 in breakaway futurity earnings.

Thiccthirty Takes the Sire Pot

Thiccthirty is a 2022 gelding by Metallic Cattack and out of Nurse Connie, by Smart Mate. He was bred and raised by Solo Select, started as a 2-year-old by BJ Avila, and joined the McCartney program at the start of his 3-year-old year. He is owned by Blake and Hayley Cavataio. In May, he earned $58,002 between the tie-down and breakaway at the Gold Buckle Futurities Spring Showdown.

At Solo Select, Thicky marked a 291.45 in the clean-slate finals to place third for $4,720. That score carried over to the sire pot, where it was good for the win and another $9,900, giving the gelding $14,620 on the day.

Bred to Be Calf Horses

McCartney believes Muffin and Thicky are a look at where the tie-down and breakaway futurities are going.

“I think the neat thing about Dont Quote Me and Thiccthirty is they’re both, in my opinion, where calf roping and breakaway futurities are headed,” McCartney said. “These horses were raised—Dont Quote Me was raised by Bailey and Tia Moore and Solo Select raised Thiccthirty—with the intention of them being calf roping horses. And I think that the team roping’s been a little ahead of us on raising horses, bloodlines, horses to excel in the team roping events. And I think the calf roping and breakaway’s caught on. And when you start with something like that, that has genetics to rope calves, it just makes our job so much easier.”

Both horses have won in the tie-down for Cody and in the breakaway for Cheyanne, Cody’s wife, across different setups and cattle. McCartney said that comes down to their minds.

“I think the two neat things about these two horses is they’re just, they don’t try to beat you or try to get out of a job,” McCartney said. “They score good, they run, they track, they stop. It’s not, so to say, work to show either of these horses. If we do our job and catch, they’re usually going to show good and perform.”

A Message to the Calf Ropers

The tie-down roping drew a small but tough field to the Circle T Arena, and McCartney thinks more of the sport’s top ropers should be paying attention to the money on the futurity trail.

“The money’s great at these futurities and maybe not even the top tie-down ropers or breakaway ropers need to be here, but I think it won’t be long before you see your NFR guys buying a 2-year-old or a 3-year-old horse and sending it to Shane Hanchey or Haven Meged or Clay Cerny, because I know it’s hard to find a rodeo horse and when you do, they’re a lot of money,” McCartney said. “So I think they’re really missing the boat not having young horses coming along where you can win a lot of money throughout the year. And then when that horse ages out, it’s ready to go on and go to your pro rodeos and ready to compete wherever you want to take it.”