The 1996 World Championship Barrel Futurity’s Cinderella story will always be one of Ashley York’s fondest memories.
When barrel racing neophyte Ashley York and Sail On Truckles (“Truckles”) topped the 1996 World Championship Barrel Futurity, it was a fairytale ending for a barrel racing Cinderella story. Just two years earlier, York’s barrel racing career had taken off when she purchased her first barrel horse, the Nonstop Jet stallion Nonstop Bubblin (“Bubba”), from Mike and Janelle Green’s Southern Rose Ranch in Pelzer, S.C. Then she took on her first training project, Truckles, who ultimately took her to new levels in competition. The duo won three futurities in 1996, including the World Championship Futurity, and collected $72,620.
Despite all her success, York decided to quit barrel racing in 2000, feeling that her competitive nature would destroy her love for horses. She liquidated nearly everything, bought a 55-foot yacht with her husband, Danny, and went to the Bahamas. Now, all that remains of her barrel racing days are Sail On Truckles and a handful of the mare’s offspring.
A Ride for the Ball
Bred by Marilyn Fawcett of Winthrop, Ark., Truckles was by Up N Truckle, a son of Pass Em Up (TB), out of Krissy Bunny, by Sail On Bunny. Jack Wilkerson of El Reno, Okla., bought Truckles from Fawcett in January 1994. Disappointed with the horse’s performance on the racetrack, Fawcett consigned Truckles in the World Championship Barrel Futurity Sale in Oklahoma City, Okla., at the end of the year. After earning a speed index of 72 and a measly $120, Truckles has about 30 days of general riding before going through the sale ring.
The York’s hadn’t planned to buy any horses, but Truckles’ pedigree caught Ashley’s eye.
“I’d always liked Lindsey Hayes’ horse Pass Em Up Sun,” 38-year-old York remembers. “I thought he was the most wonderful thing.”
Still, the Yorks weren’t planning to bid — until they noticed Green holding up his buyer’s card.
“We thought is Mike’s bidding on something, it’s probably pretty good,” laughs York.
The Yorks gave $3,200 for Truckles. They were sitting right behind Green, and it took him awhile to figure out who was bidding against him. Green later told them he wouldn’t have bid if he’d know they wanted the mare.
Telephone Training
The long-standing joke between York and Green is that Truckles is the first horse that Green has trained via the telephone.
“He had me on a little program, and I did only half of it because [Truckles] was so smart and knew what I wanted,” says York. “About halfway through the year, when I confessed to him that I was doing only half of what he told me to do, he had me bring her to South Carolina. He was like, ‘OK, it’s working.'”
York describes Truckles as a “typical” mare, but she always knew her job.
“She was like show me and get out of the way,” York says. “People thought she was practically human. If I made a mistake, she’d get mad at me, and if she made a mistake, she’d sort of tuck her tail. She liked to do it herself.”
In March 1996, York and Truckles won their first championship at the Wichita Falls Futurity in Texas. In September, they triumphed at the Heart of Dixie Classic in Alabama.
Cinderella’s Ball
The 1996 World Championship Barrel Futurity wasn’t without drama. Cinderella didn’t lose a shoe, but she temporarily lost her sight in one eye. York and Truckles placed eighth in the first round. York braided Truckles tail to keep it tidy before their next run. When she went to comb out the tail before the second round, Truckles swished her tail, flicking the braid in York’s eye and causing temporary blindness.
“I still had one good eye,” laughs York. “Once I got into the arena, [Truckles] was gone. I wasn’t going to do much to stop the train anyway!”
Following the run, York went to the doctor, who confirmed her temporary blindness.
“I was legally blind in that eye,” she says. “It was one of those fluke things.”
York’s victory proved that Sail On Truckles was no fluke, however.
“I never dreamed of winning Oklahoma City, because I didn’t know it existed for the longest time,” explains York. “It was such a surprise. We stopped at a Cracker Barrel restaurant in the middle of nowhere on the way home and ran into some people coming home from a barrel race. They asked if we knew who’d won Oklahoma City. I said ‘I did. I won Oklahoma City.’ It was weird to hear that come out of my mouth. It was one of the greatest things.”
Time to Step Away
Truckles made her last run in June 1999 when York found out that the mare was in foal with twins. According to Equi-Stat, the statistical division of Cowboy Publishing Group, Truckles retired with $79,325 in earnings.
In spring 2000, Truckles foaled two Nonstop Bubblin fillies: Sale On Bubbles and Stop The Truck. York still has Sale On Bubbles, and Stop The Truck sold as a weanling to Teresa Smith of Winston-Salem, N.C. In 2004, Smith sold Stop The Truck to Pete and Tammy Daniels of Lexington, N.C.
Shortly after Truckles foaled, York found that the situation she dreaded most had come to pass. She’d started barrel racing after her husband had commented that surely the horses could do something besides eat.
“I’m such a competitor that I didn’t want that to tie over into the horses, and eventually that’s what got me out of it,” she says. “I didn’t want to run barrels. I didn’t want to race. I didn’t want to go fast. I just wanted to enjoy horses for what they were, for their grace and beauty. And that’s still what I enjoy most about them. I just got in really deep, really fast.”
The blue-light special was on. Everything sold, except Truckles and her weanling.
“For me, it’s pretty much all or nothing,” York says. “It was all then and nothing now. I just couldn’t do it just a little bit.”
A Comeback?
When Bubba sold to Mary Cargo of Belle Fourche, S.D., York retained two breedings each year to the stallion. Truckles had produced five foals by Bubba, three of which York has — a 6-year-old, a 3-year-old and a weanling. Missy Grisham of Riverview Farms in Carthage, N.C., owns Truckles Nonstop, Truckles’ yearling filly.
In 2003, the year Cargo lost Bubba, Truckles produced a bay colt that York named Pass The Bubbly (“Little Bubba”). For posterity’s sake, York had the young stallion’s semen collected and frozen before he was gelded.
Much to her delight, and dismay, Little Bubba is turning out to be just like his mother.
“I started him on barrels enough to know what he’s going to be like,” she says. “He’s probably had 30 days on barrels and is extremely broke. That’s exactly how his mother was, so it kind of scared me, and I backed off and went to the Bahamas!”
Truckles is expecting her last foal by Bubba next year. She’s pregnant with the last of four frozen straws of semen from Bubba.
“I may switch gears when she has this last one,” York says, “knowing that it’s Bubba’s last one. I haven’t even given a thought to who else I’d breed her to, or if that would be it. I really have no idea.”
Happy Endings
Since she left her barrel racing, York has spent most of her time with her restaurateur husband and 17-year-old daughter Morgan in the Bahamas. Although she’s had offers, she’s never considered selling Truckles.
“We were just offered stupid amounts of money for her,” she laughs, “and I was just offended. It was like somebody trying to buy my child. She probably really and truly with her mindset would love to run again. She understood the game and loved it. I just couldn’t sell her. I have a hard enough time parting with her kids.
“Truckles is just a gift,” she adds. “Even though I don’t see her every single say, I’m thankful for her every single day.”
This article was originally published in the January 2007 issue of Barrel Horse News. .
