$50,000 Amateur FOR 4-year-olds finals Jeffrey Matthews wins On Shortish Stamina was no problem for Jeffrey Matthews and his mare Shortish in the finals. This is one of just two classes in the eight-class show in which the go-round and the finals are held back-to-back on the same day. After tying for first place with a 216 in the go-round, Matthews came back less than two hours later to mark a 218 and win the $4,186 first-place check. This class is for riders whose career earnings do not exceed $50,000, and they must ride 4-year-old horses. "We just kept her warm after the first go-round," Matthews said of his mare, who is by Shorty Lena out of Brazos Lynx. "We didn't work her very hard. She really responded. She was better the second go than the first." Matthews of Warsaw, N.C., won the title by 3 points over Wilbert Roller of Weatherford, Texas. Roller, the 1990 Amateur for 4-year-olds champion in Augusta, had a 215 on Baker Little Pep. Lon Goff, the go-round co-leader with Matthews, had a 210 and finished fifth. Matthews practically won the cutting with a strong first cow. He almost knocked himself out of it, however, when he prepared to cut his second cow. "He was getting excited," said Dell Bell of Gainesville, Texas, the trainer of Shortish and one of Matthews' herd holders during the ride. "The first cow was really good and he was wanting to get one cut and get with it. We told him to take it easy and get his composure together." "They were all yelling at me to slow down," Matthews said. "It worked out very well," Bell added. For Matthews, the most important part of a ride is the first cut. Matthews has a tendency not to be centered at the start. "He's (Bell) always stressing that to me, to be centered," said Matthews, who is a relative newcomer to the sport. "If he gets cut and started right, he rides really well," Bell said. "For someone who is not used to cutting, usually their timing is not that good. His timing can improve but he's come a long way in a short period of time." Matthews has been riding horses all his life and showed reining working cow horses before taking up cutting two years go. "This is more fun, but it's tougher," Matthews said. "In cutting, your timing has to be more on and you're dealing with a horse, cow and rider versus in a reining class where you just have a horse and rider."