On Sunday, April 30, a week of Ruby Buckle breakaway roping and barrel racing wrapped up at the Lazy E Arena in Guthrie, Oklahoma—here’s who cashed in and all the details from the week of barrel racing.
Monday, April 24: Ruby Buckle Breakaway
Head over to The Breakaway Roping Journal for breakaway scoop.
Tuesday, April 25
Futurity
Round One Recap: 🏇Racehorse Fast: Ivy Hurst and JJ Flyinginthewind Win First Round of Ruby Buckle Futurity 2023
Wednesday, April 26
Futurity Round Two and aggregate recap: Twinning is Winning for Full Siblings at Ruby Buckle Futurity
Derby Round One: Bryanna Haluptzok and Cat Mai Flash beat out the class of nearly 330 horses with a blazing 16.649-second run. They earned $5,100 for Haluptzok as the owner, $638 for breeder Debby Singleton and $638 for Stallion Tres Seis, who also sired Pozzi and Schafer’s standouts in the futurity.
Kassie Mowry was close behind Haluptzok on KL Touch of Heaven, a 2018 gelding that made noise at the Royal Crown races in 2022 and in other venues. KL Touch of Heaven is sired by JL Dash Ta Heaven and out of Karma Loftin’s great producer Juniors Country Girl. The pair ran a 16.713-second run and eanred $3,400 for owner Mowry, $425 for breeder Loftin and $425 for JL Dash Ta Heaven’s owners.
In the No. 3 slot, SME One Of A Kind—the 2016 stallion by First Down Dash and out of the legendary Sugar Moon Express—turned in a 16.843 with owner and rider Lindsay Sears late in the draw to earn $2,210 for Sears as the owner, $276 as the breeder and $276 to First Down Dash’s owners.
Thursday, April 27
Thursday was all about the Stallion Owners Select Sale, which was limited to 100 premier embryos, foals, prospects and riding horses by Ruby Buckle incentive stallions.
High seller honors went to Miss Rocking Vodka, a 2018 mare by Triple Vodka and out of Miss King Gin by My Master Gin. She was consigned by Julia Leao and sold to Sofia Roberts for $130,000.
There was a tie for reserve high seller at the sale. Sofia Roberts also purchased Five L BugsNTheDark, a 2021 gelding by Shawne Bug Leo and out of Cfour Darkpatchpatsy by Darkelly for $80,000.
VF Chasin Eddie, a 2019 mare by Eddie Stinson and out of Chase This Ivory by Ivory James also went for $80,000 to buyers Billy and Suzonne Franks. VF Chasin Eddie was consigned by Victory Farms.
Friday, April 28
Derby Round 2
Ima Epic Hustler (2016 gelding by Epic Leader and out of Mitzi Bar None) ran an epic 16.686 to take the win in the second round of the Ruby Buckle Derby with rider and owner Scamper Cole. The win earned Cole $5,100 and $638 each for breeders Schiller Ranch and the owners of Epic Leader. Cole put nearly two tenths of a second on the field, with the reserve honors going to 2018 mare AM Regina George and Brittany Hill for their 16.874-second run. That trip earned owners Aftermath Performance Horses $3,400, and $425 each for breeders Dean and Jessie Domann, and the owners of stallion A Smooth Guy.
In the third-place position, NFR barrel racer Shali Lord brought her newest rodeo mount, a 2016 stallion by Shawne Bug Leo and out of TR Double Cash by Texas High Dasher, Al Cappone, earning $2,210 for owners Nickelbar Ranch LLC, $276 for breeder Harry Thomas and $276 for Shawne Bug Leo’s owners.
Derby Aggregate
A time of 33.746 meant that Kassie Mowry and KL Touch of Heaven were the outright derby champions, earning $10,200 for Mowry and $1,275 each for Loftin and JL Dash Ta Heaven.
Cole’s blitzing second round win rolled her up to the No. 2 position with a time of 33.832 seconds on two runs, worth $6,800 for Cole and $850 each for Schiller Ranch and Epic Leader.
The No. 3 spot went to Al Cappone and Lord, who banked $4,420 for Nickelbar Ranch and $850 each for Thomas and Shawne Bug Leo.
Maryland-born Brandon Cullins jockeyed MJ Segars Fast Lane, the fan-favorite 2017 mare owned by Grant and Rayel Little and by The Goodbye Lane to a No.4 placing, and Southeastern cowgirl Blaise Bercegeay rounded out the top five on SBW Copy Cat, her 2016 gelding by Blazin Jetolena and out of the notorious runner and producer, SX Dr Peacharita.
Saturday and Sunday, April 29 and 30
Ruby Buckle Youth
The $15,000 guaranteed youth kicked off early on Saturday morning, and 9-year-old Texas cowgirl Dusky Lynn Hall took the win on Troublenvrlooksogood, or “Trouble,” her 2013 gelding by First Down French and out of Tatango Twist Te. The youngster has already bagged numerous open race victories and even played with the pros at Globe Life Field’s The American Contender Finals back in March. On Saturday, it was her impressive 16.985-second run that earned her $900 for the win and $113 for breeder Michelle Deboer and First Down French’s owners.
The reserve win in the round went to Ceeli Pinkston and Hes So Epic, a 2018 model by Epic Leader and out of Maddie Ross by Dash Ta Fame and their 17.157, earning $600 for Pinkstons and $75 each for breeder Tyler and Naia Graham.
In the second round, it was Brynn Winton and Goodtiminstreakafire went 16.766 seconds to earn the $900 win for Jennifer Hinton, and $113 a piece for breeders Cross Creek Ranch and sire Frenchstreaktavegas.
It’s no secret Hes So Epic is a fan of standard barrel patterns—he headlined the Royal Crown Derby in Buckeye, Arizona, with a 16.6-second trip on their standard setup in February. His 17.474 in the second round was just out of the money, but it locked up their aggregate win with 34.631 on two. They cashed a check for $1,800 for that win, and another $225 for Epic Leader and the Grahams.
Ruby Buckle Open
Spanish Fork, Utah’s Marcie Wilson smoked the fastest time of the week with a 16.639 in round one of the Open on Saturday aboard Our First Goodbye, a 2013 mare owned by Mark and Linda Jarvis, Wilson’s parents. Wilson’s family members are not only the breeders of Our First Goodbye, they own her sire, The Goodbye Lane and bred the mare and Wilson has notched wins on his progeny at both Pink and Ruby Buckle events.
The rest of the open top five out of over 1000 entries went to rollovers from the derby and futurity earlier in the week in the first round, as did most of the top times in the second round, which was topped by Scamper Cole and Ima Epic Hustler.
The Open aggregate win went to Kassie Mowry and KL Touch of Heaven for their rock-solid runs in the derby earlier in the week, adding another $12,000 to their earnings and $1,500 each for Karma Loftin and JL Dahs Ta Heaven.
