09-02-2025
Alley Cat goes for nearly $400K at Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo Jr. Sale of Champions
It didn't take long to make the Junior Steer Show Grand Champion a rich young woman.
Mattison Koepp won the prize on Friday, Feb. 7. On Saturday, Feb. 8, her American Crossbreed, Alley Cat, went up for auction.
Within minutes, the bidding had reached six figures at the Junior Sale of Champions at the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo. The pulse of the room rose with the tone and tenor of the auctioneer's voice with each new raised arm and shout. Soon, the numbers were dazzling 16-year-old Koepp as she led Alley Cat around the auction ring wearing a sparkling top and an awed look.
When the gavel fell for the final time, Shane Vaden, owner of Vaden's Drywall, Plaster and Masonry in Fort Worth, had the top bid, dropping a cool $375,000 for Koepp's steer.
Vaden, a long-time member of the Fort Worth Stock Show Syndicate, was overcome by emotion after securing the winning bid. He wiped tears from his eyes as friends, family members and well wishers clutched his hand and slapped him on the back.
Beef on the hoof currently goes for around $2.05 a pound, so Vaden's price was just a little above market rate, but he was happy to pay the premium, he said, after watching Koepp win the Junior Steer Show the day before.
'I saw the excitement,' said Vaden. He then praised the effort it took Koepp to get to this point. 'You're a hard-working young lady, and you're going to be a success,' he assured her.
Seated at a press conference table after the auction, Koepp appeared stunned. 'It's a dream come true,' she kept repeating. Her mom, Alicia, dad, Matt, and big brother, Mason, beamed with pride next to her.
With the money she earned, Koepp, from La Vernia, plans to carry on a family tradition and attend Texas A&M University, where she wants to study agricultural management. After that, she says, she might become a steer judge and have the chance to make some other youngster's dream come true.
Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo Director of Communications Matt Brockman called the Junior Sale of Champions 'the biggest Saturday morning at the stock show.'
The auction began at 9 a.m., but long before that prospective buyers milled around the auction floor dressed to the nines in boots and suits, wearing faded jeans instead of dull trousers, silk wild rags in place of stuffy neckties.
By 8 a.m., bottles were popping at the hospitality bar, and everyone was in a celebratory mood, poised to spend big money for a great cause, supporting the next generation of Texas ranchers.
Two years ago, a record was broken when Grand Champion steer Snoop Dog commanded a whopping $440,000. While this year's bidding didn't get quite that high, Koepp was nonetheless pleased with her take, which should be more than enough to fund her studies at A&M.
It wasn't all glitz and glamour, though, on Saturday. Koepp's eyes welled up with tears when asked how she felt about saying goodbye to Alley Cat. 'It's sad he can't come back with us,' she said.
With so much money changing hands, it's sometimes tough to remember there's a young woman, a high school student, losing a beloved companion, an animal she's devoted her life to over the past year.
As for the immediate future, Koepp said, she's heading home to La Vernia, where another steer awaits. She's planning to have that one ready for the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo later this month.
