Jordan Bailey and Lora Nichols put on dominant performances at the MVP and Greg Olson Futurity and Derby events, held back-to-back weekends in Buckeye, Arizona.
Photos by Lexi Smith Media
The first two weekends of January annually bring barrel racers to sunny Buckeye, Arizona, for the MVP Futurity and Derby and the Greg Olson Memorial Futurity and Derby. Previously produced by BRN4D and now spearheaded by the Buckeye Arena, the events paid out a combined total of $275,000 across both weekends.
MVP Futurity and Derby Champion Jordan Bailey
Jordan Bailey won both the MVP Futurity and Derby on two 5-year-old mares bred, raised and trained in her family, out of the same mare Ima Girl Judge. Ima Girl Dash, by Dash Ta Fame, won the Futurity, while three-quarter sibling Ima Girl Fame, by Mulberry Fame, took top honors in the Derby.
“It meant a lot. Ima Girl Judge was my mother’s really good Judge Cash mare. She didn’t really get to run a whole lot, but when she did, she was always right there at the top. She was so powerful when she turned. She’s been one of the building blocks to our program,” said Jordan, who trains all the horses she and her mother Tammy Bailey raise in their operation at Star Bailey Ranch.
The Onalaska, Washington, barrel horse trainer, who has won more than $500,000 in the arena, said the similarities among Ima Girl Judge’s offspring has helped her better train and campaign them. The mare has produced over $100,000 in EquiStat offspring earnings, not including recent amounts.
“Her first colt was Ima Boy Gator, and I futuritied and derbied him and won over $100,000 on him. He was by On A Gator, which is a Dash Ta Fame stud, so they’re all three-quarter siblings,” Jordan said. “They’re all very bold, very hot, but very, very willing. They want a job, they want to work and they’re a lot of horse. They’ve made me be more aggressive as a jockey, because when I step in the arena on them, it’s an all-or-nothing kind of run, so I have to put my best foot forward. They make me ride more like a jockey instead of a trainer.”
Tammy has bred a total of over $309,000 in EquiStat barrel money earners, with Jordan jockeying most of them. Their crew added around $11,000 to that total in Buckeye at the MVP.
Ima Girl Dash won the first go of the Futurity with a 17.136, worth $2,920. “JD’s” 17.657 didn’t earn money in the second go at seventh place but sealed the winning average of 34.793 for $2,871.
“I think those might have been JD’s fifth and sixth runs ever. The first round, I was not expecting that whatsoever. She’s been behind all year, one of the furthest ones behind. For her to go out and clock like that was crazy to me. My second run my goal was just to have a smooth, clean run. I knew she’d run for me, I just needed not to get in my head about it and just ride the horse,” Jordan said. “We never clocked her super hard [in exhibitions], because she never was ready. We waited until we started entering her. She did clock pretty well once I started entering her, which shocked us.”
Ima Girl Fame placed in both rounds of the Derby with times of 17.357 and 17.061, winning the Derby average in 34.418 for $586.
“She’s super strong. She likes to come down and turn really hard. I just hustle her into the hole and let her work. I was really happy with her both days,” Jordan said.
She says the two closely related mares are similar in personality traits.
“JD is the first Dash Ta Fame I’ve ran and trained — I’ve only had grandbabies in the past — so I see a lot more Dash Ta Fame in her. Their personalities are really similar. They’re super sweet and loving, but when they’re working, they’re on the muscle and want to do their jobs. They don’t really care what you want to do,” Jordan said with a laugh.
She added thanks to her sponsors Star Bailey Ranch, Judge My Class, Guys Pocket Coin, Baileys IGA, Harbor Hydraulics and Animal Health Solutions and Equerry’s.
Greg Olson Futurity Champion Lora Nichols and Blissful Version
Lora Nichols and Blissful Version had a successful couple weeks in Arizona. After finishing as MVP Futurity reserve champions, the pair came back the following week and won the Greg Olson Futurity.
The pair won close to $10,000 between the two events, and Nichols said those wins were all about trusting the process.
“One thing that comes from the Richards is that it’s all about the process, and the outcome takes care of itself,” Nichols said of her friends and Blissful Version’s breeders, the Richard family of A & C Racing and Roping. “I tried to implement that into everything, so I didn’t concentrate on winning anything. It was just going out there and making my run, completing my process, and the outcome has taken care of itself. It’s amazing to follow through with that process and how it works, rather than worrying about shutting the clock off.”
The pair ran two standard-pattern times of 17.652 and 17.467 to win the MVP Futurity reserve championship. Prior to the events as well as in the week between the MVP and Greg Olson, she focused simply on moving “Buddy” forward, riding the hind end and getting him reaching more in his stride — all things that she worked on when riding with National Finals Rodeo qualifier Sue Smith the month prior.
At the Greg Olson, a 17.591 finished fifth in the first go for $311. They clocked a 17.340 in the second round for third and $1,789, winning the average for $3,024 with a 34.931.
“My goal for my time-onlys was to get him in there, be confident myself and ride better. He went in the first round as confident as can be, and I pulled on the backside of first a little and he popped off, but he gets on over and finishes strong,” said the Pinedale, Wyoming, barrel racer who winters in Morristown, Arizona. “He’s gritty, he wants to work and loves his job. He stops at the end and he’s wanting a cookie, instantly. He’s like, ‘I did a good job, didn’t I?’ He is so sweet.”
Nichols got the gelding as a 2-year-old from his breeders, the Richards of A & C Racing and Roping. She almost sold Buddy in the summer of his 4-year-old year, but his steady upward progression kept him in her barn.
“Chad Richard told me he wanted me to have a Winners Version, and he had a mare and a gelding. I told him to pick something out for me, because you know what you have and you know what I’m looking for. I had a ton of colts and liked everything I had, so I thought I’d sell some and keep whatever was left. I had him for sale this past late summer, and I actually backed out because he was coming along and doing pretty good, and the rest is history,” Nichols said.
She says his easygoing, willing nature coupled with his athleticism and speed made Buddy a joy to train.
“He’s always been so easy. His name is Buddy because he’s so sweet, like a lab dog, and does whatever you want to do,” Nichols said. “The first time I got to enter him, I took him to a barrel race in Gilbert, Arizona, and there were over 300 entries, and he was 10th. I was like, whoa. He’s just so easy; I haven’t even asked him for anything. He’s not a dragon ready to go; he’s still just walk, trot, lope, run. He’s got an amazing stride on him when he’s long trotting. You can see that extension and reach. He’s confident in me, and he’s a real confident horse.”
Buddy’s confidence, Nichols believes, comes from the way he was raised in the Richards’ program as well as how Nichols treats the horses in her own program.
“The Richards’ program is treat them like a winner until they prove they’re not. I think that’s key from when they’re babies, because they believe they’re winners because they’ve been told that from the beginning through the way they’ve been treated. I’ve tried to put that in my program, too,” Nichols said.
She thanked the Richards as well as her vets and family, especially her sister-in-law Margaret Jones, who won the Greg Olson Open 1D average on Double Down On This Guy, while Nichols finished as Open 1D reserve champion on her other horse French Dynamite Stik.
“I thank my family and my vets at Performance Equine Specialists. They’re awesome for keeping our horses sound. I also thank A & C Racing and Roping; they’ve been a big part of this,” Nichols said graciously. “I’d also like to thank Margaret; we won first and second in the Open 1D average on horses we both trained. She’s always been one of my biggest supporters and traveling partner. We share our training techniques, and she’s always pushing me to keep going. I’m so grateful to have her on my team; she’s a big part of what I do.”
This article was originally published in the March 2025 issue of Barrel Horse News.
