Jordan Bailey jockeyed five different mounts to the pay window at the BRN4D Finals, including first and second in the 1D Open Average.
The 2024 BRN4D Finals brought some of the best competition the Pacific Northwest has to offer to Battle Ground, Washington. Safe and consistent ground was the focus of the event, with producer Jessica Banning giving full credit to the ground crew.
“I have the best ground crew in the entire northwest, and I would even put them up with the best in the country,” Banning said.
BJ Babb, Jeff Stahl and Jeramie Whynot make up the team of knowledgeable and dedicated tractor drivers who kept the conditions primed for a full weekend of fast and safe barrel racing.
Banning shared, “I think our finals went great this year! It ran very smooth. This year we presented a new award for BRN4D, ‘Horse of the Year.’ This was member voted and it was a very close running between some amazing horses. Famous Man of Steel, ridden and owned by Serena Randall from Brush Prairie, Washington, took home the award.”
Open 1D Average Champion Jordan Bailey and Classy Way Ta Fame
“Dominant” would be an accurate word to describe the weekend that Jordan Bailey had at the BRN4D Finals. The Onalaska, Washington cowgirl walked away as the Open 1D Average Champion and Reserve Champion, placed first and second both Friday and Saturday, and had three horses in the top 11 on Sunday. Bailey made runs on five different horses, picking up a check on every one of them, for earnings totaling $6,544. The highest money earner on her trailer was 6-year-old mare Classy Way Ta Fame (Mulberry Fame x Rubys Classy Biankus x Captain Biankus) with $2,139. Bailey and “Jolene” meant business from the start, clocking a 15.614 to win the Open on Friday night, worth $1,128. A trip on Saturday resulted in a slower time of 16.190, but the pair was back in top form on Sunday, posting a 15.745 to place second and pocket $1,012.
“Friday she felt really good, was super snappy and I felt like I had a really good first barrel on her,” Bailey shared. “She was just really on her spots and ready to roll. Saturday she struggled on the ground and tripped on the first and second so was definitely slower. On Sunday she felt pretty good again; still on her spots and got her first barrel pretty good.”
Jolene is a product of the Star Bailey Ranch program, owned and operated by Jordan and her parents, Tammy and Bryan. The Baileys stand several stallions (Judge My Class, PC Sugar Judge, Honor Thy Judge and Guys Pocket Coin) and have a small broodmare band of their own.
“I train full time, and do take some outside horses, but we are mostly trying to focus on our own,” Bailey shared. “My mother has been breeding for a long time, probably at least 20 years, but in the last 5-10 years the program has really grown up for us. I definitely enjoy it all; the breeding mares and watching them grow and progress, but when it’s all said and done and you go out and win it makes it all worth it.”
Jolene was bred and raised by the Baileys. She was sold as a yearling, but purchased back as a coming 2-year-old.
“She is out of the same dam as our Judge My Class stallion (Rubys Classy Biankus), so that dam line is pretty important to us. She was barely started; maybe had 10 rides on her. She has been really easy, everything came natural. I didn’t ride her very consistently for the first year and a half so she didn’t get a whole lot of time, but it was really easy for her. She is very sweet and very in-your-pocket. She wants to be around you all the time and wants a job. One thing I like about the mares is they always seem to want to work.”
A two-month hiatus due to a foot abscess kept the talented mare out of competition temporarily this year, but didn’t seem to harm them in the long run.
“I really was not expecting her to go out and clock so consistently,” Bailey said. “She’s fairly point and shoot as long as I do my job. She can be a little bit of both free and push style; she is definitely a barrel hunter and wants to turn, but I feel like I can get her rolling pretty good and not have to worry about her running by too much.”
In addition to her success on Jolene, Bailey was the Open 1D Reserve Champion on Ima Girl Fame (Mulberry Fame x Ima Girl Judge x Judge Cash), placing second in two rounds and posting a total time of 47.583 on three. She also turned in the fastest time of the weekend on PC Mari This Judge (Judge Cash x PC Mari Madisun x Sun Frost), earning $1,131 for first place on Saturday. Top-10 placings on PC Sugar Judge and Judge My Class rounded out the winnings for Bailey, making her 5-for-5 on money earners on her trailer.
Bailey extends thanks to her parents, Cowgirl’s Coffee, Animal Health Solutions, Harbor Hydraulics, Judge My Class and Guys Pocket Coin.
This article was originally published in the October 2024 issue of Barrel Horse News.
