Carl Wise and his teenage daughter Kassie enjoyed the luck of the Irish at the 4th annual NBHA Shamrock Showdown, held March 13-16, in Jacksonville, Fla. The father-daughter duo from Williamson, Ga., must have stuck a couple of four leaf clovers under their saddle pads for extra luck. Out of the five 1D titles on the line, the Wise clan claimed three. In fact, the only 1D winners at the Shamrock Showdown without the last name Wise were Florida barrel racers Kaley Bass, of Davenport, who was the Youth 1D champion, and Tiffanie Clark, of Jacksonville, who topped the 1D of Open Race No. 1.
Dad Carl led off the pair’s pre St. Patrick’s Day weekend of success by winning the 1D Senior Race on Thursday night, March 13. He gave the NBHA fans a glimpse of what the Wises had in store for the competition for the rest of the weekend by taking an early lead in the Senior race aboard his sorrel gelding “KC”, only to return 29 runners later with a time three-tenths of a second faster on his ultimate winner “Lobo.” When the 63 times of Senior entrants were sorted from fastest to slowest, Wise stood first and third in the 1D.
Daughter Kassie followed suit later in the evening to take an early lead in the Youth race with a 14.831 that held through 70 runners until Bass clocked a slightly faster 14.758. Carl had won the Senior with a 14.712. By night’s end, the father-daughter team had their diesel bill and entry fees covered for the entire weekend with checks totaling $542.
After Race No. 1, it was obvious that the Wises’ luck had not diminished over night. Although Tiffanie Clark stayed in the driver’s seat after clocking a 14.775, running No. 32 in a field of 451 entries, the Wises earned three of the 10 1D checks. Carl finished fourth and seventh while Kassie snuck in between in fifth. With expenses already paid, the $1,942 earned on Friday, March 14, went into the profit column.
With $15,000 added in Saturday’s Race No. 2, it was Kassie who carried the Wise coat of arms to the weekend’s fastest time of 14.480. The $3,059 paycheck brought the family total to $5,543. Carl, meanwhile, had a momentary lapse of luck when he was shut out on both of his entries in Race No. 2.
Before making the short five hour drive back home, the Wise clan took one more pass at the competition on Sunday in Race No. 3. Kassie clocked the second fastest time of the weekend with 14.624 for her second first place Open 1D check, which was worth $1,118. Dad wasn’t far behind with a 14.849 for $304.
It took a pocket calculator to add up the nine father-daughter checks from the Shamrock Showdown. The total sum stood at $6,965.
With $24,500 in added money provided by the hosting National Barrel Horse Association, the 4th Annual NBHA Shamrock Showdown Super Show paid out a more than respectable $91,008 during the four days of competition in the form of 164 individual checks. Race No. 2, with $15,000 added, paid out $47,984. Race No. 1, with $5,000 added, paid out $22,364 and Race No. 3 with $3,000 added, paid out $15,348.
The brain child of popular NBHA supporter Paul Stanley, Callahan, Fla., the Shamrock Showdown Super Show has, since 2005, served as the kick-off event for the tour of 13 national events produced by the NBHA home office.
The event was co-approved with the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association, which meant that 1D and 2D money won in any of the Open races counted toward filling a WPRA permit (if purchased prior to competing), as well as qualifying for the WPRA Finals to be held in Tulsa, Okla., Nov. 19-22. The Youth race was also WPRA approved which meant its prize money counted toward qualifying for the WPRA Junior Finals, also to be held in Tulsa on the same dates.
To read the complete story, pick up the May 2008 issue of Barrel Horse News.
