Two-time World Champion and three-time Reserve World Grand Champion Hey, Tomcat passed away quietly on Sunday, February 20 of an aneurism at Jamie Lawrence Stables in Vinemont, Alabama. He was owned and greatly loved by Roy and Joan Wester of Odenville, Alabama. Hey, Tomcat had wins last season in the Southern Championship Charity Stake, the PRHTA Championship and was the Alabama Jubilee Charity Grand Champion with Jamie Lawrence. With his beautiful gray color, talent and disposition he was a crowd favorite wherever he showed. Plans were for Roy Wester to entertain the crowds in the amateur division this season. He was born on May 4, 2013 and was sired by The Perfect Hawk out of a mare by A Jazz Man.
Hey, Tomcat’s first blue ribbon was with Carol Lackey winning the Amateur Two-Year-Old Stallions class at the Gulf Coast Charity in 2015 under the training of Danny Burks. As a two-year-old he earned seven blues, including the O/A Two-Year-Old Stallions World Championship and the O/A Two-Year-Old Reserve World Grand Championship. As a three-year-old he won eight blues and entered the Celebration undefeated with both Lackey and Burks in the irons.
Lackey and Tomcat earned the 2016 O/A World Champion Three-Year-Old Stallions, Section B and the O/A Three-Year-Old Reserve World Grand Championship titles. In 2017, he entered the Celebration undefeated with five blues to win the 2017 O/A Four-Year-Old Reserve World Grand Championship.
During 2018 Hey, Tomcat and Bill Callaway made their debut winning the Money Tree Classic Open Specialty blue. At the Celebration Lackey directed him to the Elite O/A Ladies on Stallions Reserve World Championship with Callaway winning the Stallions Reserve World Championship. That fall, under the direction of Danny Burks and Legacy Stables, Lackey and Hey, Tomcat ended their season winning the Amateur Five-Year-Old Stake at the North Carolina Championships and the Amateur Five-Year-Old Stallions class at the Tunica Fall Classic.
At that time, he was purchased by the Westers and placed at Jamie Lawrence Stables. Lawrence and Tomcat debuted by winning the Walking Horse Championship at the Magnolia Classic. The popular team then won championship classes at the Arab Summer Classic and Christmas in July, followed by the 2019 Stallions Canter Reserve World Championship and ended the season with the Alabama Jubilee Grand Championship. The team continued successfully in 2020 winning the stakes at the Arab Summer Classic and the Alabama Jubilee Charity.
During the time he was owned by Westers, he was also highly popular as a breeding stallion at Lawrence Stables and his first crop of colts are under saddle this year so his legacy continues on. He will be greatly missed by those who loved him and cheered for him.