Blaise Wheeler named high-money earner by a mile and Leslie Willis takes top honors in The Big Bucks Slot Race at the Good Times Barrel Racing Equinety “Perry Cup” in Perry, Georgia, at Perdue Arena March 20-22, 2025.
Not very many places can a barrel racer go and win more than $17,000 at a two-day barrel race or nearly $7,000 in one run. Still, the Good Times Barrel Racing Association continues to make that possible for barrel races across the East Coast. They are consistently known for creating exceptional events with good ground, second-to-none payouts, and convenient accommodations.
The 6th annual Equinety “Perry Cup” Race, typically held in March, has moved dates to April 8-11, 2026. It will feature the Big Bucks 2D Slot Race along with multiple other races for open, youth, futurity, and derby riders.
Top Gun: Blaise Wheeler Wins Over $17,000
Blaise (Bercegeay) Wheeler broke in her new married name the right way, by winning. With more than $828,909 in reported EquiStat earnings, Wheeler continues to prove why she’s in the winner’s circle again and again.
“On the way to Perry, my husband, Brian, told me I better step up and not make his name look bad,” Wheeler said with a laugh.
Wheeler set foot in Perry, Georgia, with four elite horses on her trailer. All proved to pull their weight, and Wheeler cashed out more than $17,000 in winnings.
She started the weekend out with a bang, winning the Friday Open and High Rollers barrel race with a 14.590 on her homegrown 2014 sorrel stallion BR The Tonka Taxi (Dash Ta Fame x Nick Bar Girl x Dr Nick Bar).
“It’s been really special for me to watch ‘Tonka’ grow and step up throughout his career and become the horse he is today,” Wheeler said. “I rode on his dam, whom Kim Thomas trained, so that makes it even more special.”
Started by Brice Manning and trained by Karen Manning, Wheeler praises the time and hard work the Mannings put into making Tonka the horse he is today.
“He wouldn’t have made a winner without Karen riding him,” Wheeler explained.
Wheeler has always owned and stood a stallion at her very own Boyd Ranch in Summit, Mississippi, and she intends for Tonka to be the next stallion once he is retired from the arena.
“I like Dash Ta Fames, and Dr Nick Bar on the bottom side have been really good to both me and Brian,” Wheeler said. “He really is just such a cool horse. He is so big-boned and sound and easy to be around and ride.”
Unfortunately, a hit barrel on Saturday kept Wheeler and Tonka from being fast in the Big Bucks Slot Race.
“You have to really ride like a grandma to hit a barrel on Tonka,” Wheeler said with a laugh, yet humbly admitted about her downed barrel. “However, I don’t let that get into my head; I just look forward to the next barrel race we go to.”
Wheeler’s 2017 gray gelding Plea Barrgain (Judge Cash x Cristys First CD x Dash Ta Fame), whom she purchased nearly a year ago from Quieva Richardson and who was trained by Carlos Renato, was the high-money earner on Wheeler’s trailer for the weekend placing second on Friday with a 14.653 in the High Rollers and the Open and winning the Derby side pot.
The dynamic duo, who have won more than $60,000 since Wheeler took over the reins, backed it up on Saturday to place third in the Big Bucks Slot Race, Open, and High Rollers with a 14.651.
“It has taken me some time to get consistent with ‘MJ,’” Wheeler admitted. “I didn’t truly understand how to work him and ride him until I went and spent a few days out in Texas with Carlos, and he showed me everything he did with him.”
Wheeler’s sensational 2019 sorrel gelding SBWFeelinthepressure, trained by her husband Brian, has amassed earnings of more than $290,521 and was third in the Friday High Rollers and Open and won the LOTS Derby first round with a 14.700. A down barrel in the second round of the LOTS Derby kept Wheeler from winning money again in the round or the Big Bucks Slot Race. However, Wheeler said she wasn’t worried about it and was looking forward to the upcoming Diamond Classic in Abilene, Texas, on April 5-13, 2025.
“The Diamond Classic was really good to Brian and I last year, so I can only hope it’s just as good this year,” Wheeler said. “Going first, second, and third at a big barrel race like the Perry Cup has given me a lot of confidence for the upcoming spring barrel races. I am really excited.”
Wheeler thanks her husband, Brian, Carlos Renato, and Brice and Karen Manning, who have all played vital roles in making the horses she wins what they are today. She also thanks Dr. Reese Hand, DVM, of Equine Sports Medicine and Surgery, for everything he does to keep her horses sound and going down the road. She appreciates her sponsors, Masters Saddles, Ranchy Threads, and GTBRA, for the great-paying barrel races.
Don’t Count Her Out: Leslie Willis and Felice Seis Clinch Big Bucks Slot Race 1D Championship.
Suppose there’s someone to pick when they are backed into a corner. In that case, it’s hard not to place your bets on three-time Barrel Futurities of America Super Stakes $100,000 Champion Leslie Willis of Chester, South Carolina, who has EquiStat earnings of more than $1.9 million.
Willis continues to win in slot races and high-pressure situations, not just in the futurities but also in the derbies and open races. Whenever the lucky shirt is on, so is Willis.
Her talented 2019 bay mare Felice Seis (Tres Seis x PC Decadent Frost x Sun Frost) has proven to step up to the plate time and time again with Willis in the driver’s seat, with reported EquiStat earnings of $140,011.
“I had honestly planned to hold ‘Feliche’ over until her 5-year-old year, until the slot horse I had got hurt. I had her turned out in the back pasture for the summer, and I went back there and pulled her up in September and went to work to get her ready,” Willis said.
Willis explained that because the mare was so green, it took her until the end of her futurity year to really come on and get solid.
“She hasn’t looked back since. She is so easy and fun to run, and because she’s such an outcross, we have plans to keep her and run her and breed her,” Willis exclaimed.
Willis and Feliche placed eighth in the Open and High Rollers Race on Friday with a respectable 14.866 to collect some change.
“I hadn’t ran her anywhere in four weeks, so I felt like she wasn’t as sharp as she could’ve been,” Willis admitted.
Willis showed out on Saturday and turned in the fastest time of the weekend in a tough field of horses with a 14.579.
“She made a flawless run on Saturday. When I came out of the arena, I told my friend Brian Wheeler that she had made the best run she could make,” Willis said.
Willis explained that she doesn’t consider slot races high-pressure situations. Instead, she considers them just another run.
“I’d rather have to make one good run than to worry about backing it up and making another run just as good,” Willis said with a laugh.
Willis thanks her husband, Jason, who plays a huge role in her success, as well as her sponsors: Advanced Equine Nutrition, Cox Vetrinary Lab, Classic Equine, and Seminole Feed. She also thanks GTBRA for the opportunity to run at great shows for good payouts on the East Coast.
This article was originally published in the May 2025 issue of Barrel Horse News.
