Taylor Cherry and Taylor Manning returned to Claresholm, Alberta for Royal Crown Canada to successfully defend their 2023 Futurity and Derby Average titles, respectively.
Royal Crown Canada saw growth and excitement with its return to Claresholm for their second year. Barrel racers, team ropers, calf ropers and breakaway ropers all descended on the Claresholm Agriplex to take their shot at the $614,500 that was added across all events.
“I can’t thank the stallion owners enough; they took a chance on us last year and many of them stuck with us,” said producer Clay Ullery. “This would never happen without them.” Royal Crown Canada saw not only the barrel racing entries nearly double in their second year, but also the team roping.
“You could see the community talks about it differently this year, and it’s gained a lot of traction.” Ullery continued, “For us, we focus on producing world class events. I think we got recognized for that last year, and did a good job this year of rising to the occasion. I predict it to continue to grow.”
With one year under their belt, the production team had a better idea of what they were getting into and were able to set themselves up to be more effective. One arena was dedicated to the roping events, while the other remained set up specifically for barrels all week long.
“Our team was really organized and prepared, and more experienced,” Ullery said. “You’ll always have hiccups with an event this size; our internet went down for a bit and that was challenging, but it was quite smooth other than that.”
Futurity Average Champion Taylor Cherry and Blazin Sugar Daddy
Debolt, Alberta native Taylor Cherry has made a habit of winning the Royal Crown Canada futurities. Of the three events they have held so far, Cherry has been the average champion at all of them— winning Claresholm and Brandon, Manitoba in 2023 on Poverty Ta Fame (Guys Keepin The Fame x Povertys Essie x Speedy Kirk), and taking the 2024 Claresholm title on Blazin Sugar Daddy (Blazin Jetolena x LS Shamless In Paris x Frenchmans Falcon). The clinician and trainer paired a first-place finish in Round One (16.045, worth $15,600) with a fourth-place finish in Round Two (16.393, worth $7,200) to ultimately win her third straight title. An aggregate time of 32.438 paid an impressive $31,300. Including Open carryovers and side-pot earnings, Cherry and “Preacher” raked in just over $60,000 for the week.
“I knew he could win it or at least place,” Cherry said of the 5-year-old stallion. “He’s just so solid and confident, it gave me so much confidence in him going into it. He does have a tendency to step up the pen a little bit on the first barrel, and he did a little on Thursday. I had to ride the first barrel two-handed, but I think it was still faster than normal. The lines were straight and that first run was pretty much flawless otherwise. He was just perfect, and I knew he was going to be fast after I turned the second barrel. Our second run, I came out and told Kyle (Klassen, owner) that I rode a little conservatively because I just needed to get by them. I actually rated him at the first and I think it did more harm than good; it ended up being a funny angle and we stepped off towards the timer and screwed my lines up. It was just not a pretty run, but he can still clock. I was still super happy with him, he’s just so consistent.”
The talented young stallion is owned by good friends of Cherry’s, Kyle and Ashley Klassen. They purchased him just after he turned 3 from Alan and Pamela Doughty, with the intent to keep him a stallion prospect.
“The Klassens were planning on having me jockey whichever horse they bought, and they sent me videos of him in the round pen,” Cherry shared. “I said, ‘Buy that horse!’ He had 30 days on him, but I like them a certain way so I went back to square one in the round pen and brought him up the way I would like to.”
It didn’t take long for Preacher to pick up on Cherry’s program.
“He came along fast,” she said. “Things are way too easy for him, he’s always been so talented ever since I threw a leg over him. He has such a cool turning style, and everything is just so easy for him. He’s a quirky dude though—he doesn’t like new people a whole bunch, and doesn’t like therapy or ice boots. He will legit rip them off! He’s just a quirky, one-person type of horse. He definitely knows he’s special and has got a big ego. I obviously keep some of that in check because he’s a stallion, but he’s easy to haul.”
At this point in his career, Cherry’s focus for the stallion is less on pattern work and more on fitness. “We do lots of rollbacks and loping circles, she explained.
“He gets a sweat pretty much every day, but I don’t like to drill on one [on the pattern] unless I absolutely have to. I do know that he has a tendency to step up the pen a bit on the first, so if I do feel like he’s getting strong, I’ll set one barrel out and just work the first barrel and make sure he’s rating off of my seat. But for the most part he’s been so consistent, and so solid.”
Cherry thanks everyone behind the scenes for helping her out, as well as her sponsors: Usher Brand, Zesterra, and Dr. Billy Hodge, DVM, at Meadow Lane Equine Clinic.
Derby Average Champions Taylor Manning and Little Sexcee Cowboy
“It’s been a good two weeks!” Taylor Manning quipped. The cowgirl from Edson, Alberta is on the heels of back-to-back derby wins in Claresholm, winning the Yellow Rose Derby Average the weekend before re-claiming the Royal Crown Canada Derby Average. To make things more impressive, Manning won each of them on her 8-year-old gelding Little Sexcee Cowboy (Guys Casanova Cowboy x JC Simply Sexcee x Merridoc). Purchased as a weanling from Grant and Rayel Little, “Archie” has been jockeyed by Manning his entire career.
“He likes the small indoors,” she shared. “My goal going in was to just try and have good timing and just have a smooth run with him. My other goal was to ride his first barrel good and have his head shaped; that helps him turn a bit better sometimes.”
In the first round of the $75,000-added Royal Crown Canada Derby, the pair clocked a smooth 16.100 to place second and pick up $5,150.
“In the first round, he kind of slipped on the first barrel but went on to the next two and tried to be really good,” Manning said. “The second run I knew I had to clean up my riding a little bit and work on my timing. My mom told me to just keep the barrels up and stay in the average at least.”
Manning followed mom’s advice and then some, clocking a 16.080 to pick up another $5,150 for second in Round Two. The duo’s aggregate time of 32.180 put them on top of the Derby Average leaderboard, banking $12,580. Including Open and side-pot carryovers, the red-hot pair earned $33,438.
“With him, and all my horses really, I try and do as much slow work as I can to keep them nice and calm and relaxed,” Manning shared. “I think it keeps them liking their job more and happy. I gave him a month off this winter, and I think it gave him a reset on his mind and ready to come back for the spring. He’s got a very sweet personality and is just a very sweet horse. He’s always sleeping in his stall and will be laying down right before I run him. He’s really laid back, but then he gets big and excited in the alleyway.”
Lifelong barrel racer Manning has been fortunate to not have to make too many big changes in Archie’s routine to keep him running and working strong over his career thus far.
“I’ve kept my tuning pretty much the same the last couple of years,” she said. “I will ride in draw reins and a lighter bit when I need to get back in tune with him. Before a run I try to keep him in my hands and super soft, so when I go make that run it feels like he’s in between my reins instead of being a bit strong. He’s pretty big, so he gets pretty strong sometimes.”
Manning thanks her sponsors Vault Construction, Back On Track Canada, Anchor C Performance Horses, Frontier Western Shop, Vetline Equine Canada, Zesterra by Pro Animal Health, B Equine Essentials, and RenoVo Amnionsolutions.
This article was originally published in the July 2024 issue of Barrel Horse News.
