Utah heeler Jared Fillmore bought AQHA World Champion stallion Pound Sign in the Feb. 11, 2024, Select Online Sale, with big plans to jump into the rope horse futurity business.

Pound Sign is a 2016 Riata Buckle and Ruby Buckle stallion by Metallic Cat out of the blue hen mare Dual Rey Tag by Dual Rey, and he won his 2021 AQHA Open Cutting world title with Austin Johnson and made the semifinals of the NCHA Futurity in 2019. He’s been in breakaway training with NFR tie-down roper Clint Robinson, and now he’ll transition to the heel side under Fillmore, a #9.5 heeler.

“Whenever they started doing these futurities with the Riata, I really thought it would be big for team roping,” Fillmore said. “There’s a whole new world of opportunity as far as team roping goes. We haven’t even tapped into how big it’s going to be if we get into the breeding side of things. That’s what it’s all moving toward. When I found out about the Riata, I told (Riata co-founder) Lance Robinson, ‘I’ve got to find a way to get into this.’ If you don’t have something to do with the Riata,  you’re going to be left behind as far as opportunity with rope horses. That’s what got me into it with Pound Sign. He’s proven himself. I did some research and thought, ‘Man this would be fun to make this little horse cool.’”

Fillmore will stand Pound Sign—a full brother to the $1 million producer Hashtags—at South Valley Equine for the remainder of the 2024 season, hauling him back and forth so he can stay hooked on his training as a heel horse.

“This horse is so talented with the kind of pedigree that’s really hard to get a hold of,” Solo Select CEO Ty Smith said. “He has the bone and structure we need in today’s stallion lineup. He’s ready to be promoted and do big things in the industry.”

Fillmore has daughters of One Time Pepto and some Gallo de Cielo mares that he plans to cross on the 15-hand stud, and he’s planning to buy some race-bred mares, too, to cross on Pound Sign.