In a fiercely competitive Chrome Cash Non-Pro Futurity at the 2025 Cinch RSNC World Finals, 19-year-old Rey Echeto made a commanding return to the sport, piloting the promising futurity horse Hawk N Roll to a first-place finish alongside gate partner Kai Clark, 17. The teenaged team sorted 28 head of cattle in just 162.76 seconds across three rounds, topping a field of 63 teams and earning $5,040 for Echeto and $1,040 for Clark.
Echeto, who had taken a short break from ranch sorting, marked his return with the win aboard Hawk N Roll (Catty Hawk x Reyl Purdy), a 2021 sorrel overo gelding owned by Trace O’Neill.
“He’s been with Matt Stevens for a little while, and I’ve rode him a bit at the house,” Echeto said. “He’s coming along really good. Matt rode him in the Pro Futurity, too, just didn’t have the best luck. Me and Kai had a good shot at it in the Non-Pro and got it done.”
The high-stakes futurity class carried a $250 entry fee for sorters, a notable commitment for the sport’s younger competitors. Echeto, fo Sanger, Texas, and Clark, from Palm City, Florida, proved that age was no barrier to strategy and execution under pressure.
“This was a pretty high-entry class,” Echeto said. “But the payout was solid. Five grand to me and a thousand to Kai in the gate—can’t complain about that.”
For the first time ever, the futurities at the 2025 Cinch RSNC World Finals included an APHA Chrome Cash incentive, which paid $1,000 into each class. With the added incentive, the payout was made even more enticing for ranch sorters riding APHA registered mounts like Hawk N Roll.
The win was even more impressive given the close race at the top. Two teams sorted 28 head, but Echeto and Clark were five seconds faster—thanks in large part to their clean execution and communication in the pen.
Clark, who held the gate for the team, played a critical role in the win.
“It’s actually my girlfriend Aubrey’s horse,” Clark said of the gelding he rode. “He’s 16 years old; came from Colleen Galloway. He’s pretty cool. And he definitely saved our butts out there.”
Echeto agreed, crediting Clark’s savvy gate work during a pivotal moment of the run.
“There was a spot where he was in a bind,” Echeto said. “I just turned around and went to the next cow and let him handle that one. Him holding that No. 0 cow definitely helped us finish with that nine head and seal the deal.”
The pair’s chemistry had been in the works for months.
“I probably called him a couple months ago,” Echeto said. “Matt and Tracy started talking about me riding in the Non-Pro, and I told Kai, ‘Hey, I might have a few horses to ride. Want to hold for me?’ He said, ‘Heck yeah, we’ll do it.’”
The class proved to be a heck of a kickstart for Clark, who also took the No. 4 spot in the Non-Pro aboard Miri Am Blue (Frosted Malt Duck x Blue Boon Sally Dual). Between his fast-time checks in the Professional’s Choice #9 Gold Shootout on the way to his seventh-place finish in the class, plus clinching the title in the #18 3-Man 2-Gate, Clark wrapped up his World Finals with a $14,667 paycheck.
Adding to the storyline was Echeto’s return after stepping away from competition for three months.
“Yeah, I’d been out of sorting for a little while,” he said. “This was a pretty strong comeback.”
For now, though, the spotlight belongs to a young horse and an even younger team that proved poise, preparation and partnership win out under pressure.
“Hawk N Roll’s got a bright future,” Echeto said with a smile. “And we’re just getting started.”
This article appears in the Summer 2025 issue of The Ranch Sorter, featuring World Champion stories, event recaps, regional results, and more.
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