Kassie Mowry and Goodbye Sophie earned Ruby Buckle Futurity and Open titles, and Carlee Otero and Blingolena dominated the Derby.
A guaranteed minimum payout of $1.155 million drew competitors from across the country to the Agricenter Showplace Arena in Memphis, Tennessee, for the final Ruby Buckle race of the 2024 year.
Futurity and Open Champion Kassie Mowry and Goodbye Sophie
Kassie Mowry and Goodbye Sophie accomplished a total sweep of the Ruby Buckle Futurity, topping both rounds and the average as well as winning the Open 1D average. The duo won a total $56,300 at the show.
A 14.846 topped the first go of the Futurity for $8,000 and finished third in the Open for $3,300. A 14.720 in the second go earned another round-winning $8,000 and $4,200 for second in the Open. With a 29.566 on two, the Futurity title paid $17,000 while the Open average added $12,000 to the mare’s earnings.
The four-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier of Dublin, Texas, and all-time winningest barrel racer bred, raised and trained “Sophie.” The 4-year-old mare has had a successful futurity year, earning over $274,000 in EquiStat reported earnings. The Ruby Buckle East marked the mare’s second average championship — she won the Lone Star Shootout in January and has finished as reserve champion several times at the Ruby Buckle Central Futurity, Ruby Buckle West Futurity and Open, and Royal Crown Rock Springs Futurity.
Derby Champion Carlee Otero and Blingolena
Carlee Otero came off a successful summer pro rodeo run that resulted in her fourth National Finals Rodeo qualification to win the Ruby Buckle Derby and Open 1D average reserve championship on her standout gelding Blingolena. The pair earned a total $38,000 in Memphis.
“We love the Ruby Buckle and going up there to Memphis. I haven’t ran ‘Sly’ too much since we’ve been home from the summer, so I treated it like a preparation run for Vegas since it was a smaller pen. He showed up and worked really good and showed me he was ready,” Otero said.
Sly was dominant in Memphis, winning the first round of the Derby in 14.825 for $5,100 and finishing second in the Open for $4,200. A fast and consistent 14.747 placed the pair second in the second go of the Derby for $3,400 and third in the Open for $3,300. The Derby average championship paid $10,200, and the Open reserve $8,400 on a 29.572.
“The summer run is so hard on the horses and hard on us, mentally and physically,” Otero said. “To be home and relax and then go and win that amount of money is refreshing. It almost makes you think twice about why we put ourselves through the rodeos when we can go to these great races and win that kind of money.”
The gelding joined Otero’s string in 2023 after a successful futurity year under trainer Brett Monroe, in which he won over $48,000 for former owner Erica Blakeney. Otero and Sly were an instant fit, winning over $121,000 in EquiStat reported earnings in their first year together in 2023. Sly’s EquiStat lifetime earnings now stand at over $272,000, not including his fall aged-event moneys.
Otero believes a big key to Sly’s ability to start winning in her program right away is the quality time she spends getting to know her horses as individuals outside the arena.
“A lot of it is bonding with them, not treating them like machines, and taking that time to bond with them. I spend a lot of time doing that outside of running barrels. We have several hours a day of interacting with each other. I think when you have that bond, I want to work as hard for him as he does for me, and it works,” Otero said. “He’s like a little child, always in your pocket and into everything. I’ve got a little boy who is 6 and acts the same way, and we call Sly ‘Brother Horse’ at home because he acts just like the boys. He’s part of the family, like a human.”
Sly is also able to seamlessly transition between winning at the rodeos to winning at the ultra-tough aged events, which Otero attributes to his love for running barrels and her laidback approach to pressure situations.
“I really think he loves his job. We make it fun for him. I don’t ask him to overdo it. I let him tell me — there’s times we don’t go out there and win first place or even second place, because I feel like they only have so many runs, so I don’t ask for his life every single run. If he wants to give it to me, then we do that,” Otero explained. “I let him have fun with it and tell me what he wants to do, and I think that’s how he transitions so easily. To him, he thinks it’s a big game.”
A top-notch care routine also keeps Sly feeling good and performing at his best — some of Otero’s go-to routines include the Bemer, lasering, wrapping legs, and feeding Equinety — as well as fitness and conditioning both inside and outside the arena to keep Sly physically and mentally sharp.
“I don’t really work the barrels; we run barrels enough. If he gives me a reason to go to the barrels, I might set up one barrel, but it’s occasional,” Otero said. “We do five days a week of long trotting and loping. We like to go to the pasture when my husband ropes; Sly’s favorite thing is to go and track up the calves and act like he’s a rope horse a few times a week.”
Otero thanked her husband and family as well as sponsors Equinety, Iconoclast, CSI Saddle Pads, Kingsville Brand and Olive Insurance.
This article was originally published in the January 2025 issue of Barrel Horse News.
