On Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026, Emanuel Gebert and Story Book Stable’s 2015 stallion Gunna Cash Ya (Little Joe Cash x Gunners Blonde Chic) battled through a four-way tie for the championship before laying down a 224 in the run-off to claim the 2026 Run For A Million Non Pro Challenge championship at South Point Arena in Las Vegas. The victory earned Gebert $31,872.91.
“I feel super amazing,” Gebert said. “It’s an amazing experience to be in the Non-Pro and it’s an amazing experience that I’m here in Las Vegas too.”
A Four-Way Fight for the Championship
The Non Pro Challenge could hardly have been closer.
Gebert and Gunna Cash Ya entered the run-off tied at the top with a score of 218 alongside Gina-Maria Schumacher and Take Out The Trash (Gunnatrashya x This Chicsdundreamin), Allison Rae Thorson and Pale Light (Pale Face Dunnit x Luz Del Conquistador) and Sarah Rose Jons and Let Err Rip (Magnum Chic Dream x Gunner Be Custom).
With the championship on the line, Gebert and the flashy palomino came back with even more.
The 13-year-old put everything he had into the final run, pushing Gunna Cash Ya to a 224 to take the championship, narrowly besting Schumacher’s new score of 223.5. Each of the three runners-up earned $15,474.53 and reserve championship prizes.
Already a seasoned competitor with more than $60,000 in lifetime earnings, Gebert showed the kind of confidence and showmanship that has become a hallmark of his young career. With the South Point Arena crowd watching, he put his hand forward and asked Gunna Cash Ya for everything he had left.
From Europe to Las Vegas
At just 13 years old, Germany’s Gebert already knows how to handle the pressure of The Run For A Million. He earned his way to the 2026 event during the 2025 NRHA European Derby in Lyon, France, in November 2025. Aboard Birgitt Wagner’s Wimpys Wanna Dance (Wimpys Little Step x Dance Little Spook), he scored a 218 to secure his spot in Las Vegas and win the qualifier’s Youth Championship.
Once he arrived in Las Vegas, Gebert had another familiar partner waiting for him.
Gunna Cash Ya has already become a proven performer at The Run For A Million, and Gebert knows the stallion well. The pair first teamed up at the event in 2025, when they earned reserve champion honors in the Youth Reining Challenge with a 218.
Now, one year later, they returned to the South Point Arena and took the Non Pro Challenge championship.
“He’s such amazing horse,” Gebert said of the flashy palomino. “He’s so nice every time, I can’t explain it. The horse is just amazing.”
The championship adds another major payday to Gunna Cash Ya’s résumé and pushes the stallion’s lifetime earnings to more than $150,000.
A Familiar Face at The Run For A Million
Gunna Cash Ya has been competing on the biggest stages for years.
At the inaugural 2019 The Run For A Million, Tom McCutcheon piloted the stallion to a 224 and seventh-place finish in the Million Dollar Invitational, earning $35,000. The stallion returned to the Run For A Million spotlight in 2024, this time with Arno Honstetter aboard in the Open Shootout.
Now, Gunna Cash Ya has added another chapter to his TRFAM résumé—this time with a 13-year-old rider from Germany holding the reins.
And Gebert isn’t finished yet.
The young rider will return to the South Point Arena on Saturday, Aug. 15, for the Youth Reining Challenge, giving the newly crowned Non Pro Challenge champion another opportunity to make his mark at The Run For A Million.