LAS VEGAS — DECEMBER 7, 2024 — Hailey Kinsel and DM Sissy Hayday continue to dominate the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo with another round win. Now leading the Top Gun standings with $111,061 in 2024 NFR earnings, Kinsel and “Sister” prove to be consistent inside the Thomas and Mack Center running another 13.48, the same time they ran in Round Two.
“The runs were quite different, in my opinion, or at least from my feel and even the ground was quite a bit different,” Kinsel said. “She’s just firing right now. She’s being really fast, so not much more I could ask for. But consistency is kind of a funny thing for her, that all the runs look and feel a little bit different, but yet she gives me a lot of the same results.”
Kinsel said Sister was strong and honest during their entire run, but the LED light behind the second barrel caused a few bumps in their approach.
“She boogered at the LED screen, running across the pen to the second barrel,” she explained. “Thankfully, she’s broke and let me move her, but I mean it was a last second move I didn’t know I was going to need to make so a little bumpy right there. Thankfully we had enough room on the backside that we didn’t catch it, and otherwise she was just trying to do everything right.”
With great attention to detail and proven experience, Kinsel noticed the LED advertisement screen along the wall behind the second barrel for horses who turn the right barrel first, and noted that no other rodeo that the WPRA barrel racers attend has an LED screen behind the barrel, adding additional challenges to an already difficult setup.
“The second barrel is the hardest one to see if you run directly across at it and for my particular run the ad that was there was different colors from one side of the barrel to the other,” Kinsel explained. “So that’s really, really hard for a horse to see and it’s also tough because [the PRCA] change the ad for every single girl.”
Kinsel’s third round win of the 2024 NFR keeps her on top of the WPRA world standings and the aggregate, with a time of 40.34-seconds on three runs. With six barrel racers hitting a barrel in Round Three, clean runs matter in the aggregate race and Kinsel is focusing on the basics in the early morning practice sessions.
“Tom Miller, Emily Beisel’s dad used to tell us that the best way to not hit a barrel is to just go in bigger circles,” she said. “So I went through one time and asked her to give me bigger circles and sometimes it’s just that simple.”
Kassie Mowry and Force The Goodbye finish Round Three with another No. 2 finish behind Kinsel, despite being last out on the ground. Their 13.58 won $26,623 and moved her to No. 2 in the world standings. Mowry and “Jarvis” have won just more than $63,000 at the 2024 NFR so far. LaTricia Duke and DM High Roller placed fifth in Round Three with their 13.67 to win their first career NFR earnings of $8,693.
2024 NFR Barrel Racing Horsepower
Top 10 EquiStat NFR All-Time Leaders
Notable Horse Changes
Two barrel racers made horse changes for Round Three. Shelley Morgan stepped off HR Fameskissandtell and ran 2017 mare Bucky Wonder Horse (First Down Dash x Rosas Cantina CC x Corona Cartel). Morgan and “Bee” unfortunately hit the first barrel to be a 18.82. Lisa Lockhart switched from Promise Me Fame Guys to 2018 mare Blazin Ta Betty, full sister to Jordon Briggs’ world champion Famous Lil Jet. They also hit a barrel to be an 18.70.
2024 NFR Barrel Racing Round Three Results
1. Hailey Kinsel/DM Sissy Hayday/13.48/$33,687
2. Kassie Mowry/Force The Goodbye/13.58/$26,624
3. Tiany Schuster/Famous Mic Guy Ver/13.65/$17,115
3. Andrea Busby/Jets Top Gun/13.65/$17,115
5. LaTricia Duke/DM High Roller/13.67/$8,693
6. Leslie Smalygo/Justaheartbeattofame/13.84/$5,433
7. Ashley Castleberry/Skyy Blue/13.89
8. Abby Phillips/VF Expensive Taste/13.89
9. Halyn Lide/Jettin Ta Heaven/14.34
10. Emily Beisel/Namgis D 33/18.55*
11. Lisa Lockhart/Blazin Ta Betty/18.70*
12. Wenda Johnson/Steal Money/18.72*
13. Shelley Morgan/Bucky Wonder Horse/18.82*
14. Carlee Otero/Blingolena/18.86*
15. Dona Kay Rule/High Valor/19.00*
*Denotes penalty
2024 NFR Barrel Racing Aggregate Results
- Hailey Kinsel, Cotulla, Texas, 40.34 seconds on three runs
- Andrea Busby, Millsap, Texas, 41.00
- Tiany Schuster, Krum, Texas, 41.08
- Ashley Castleberry, Montgomery, Texas, 41.26
- Abby Phillips, Marshall, Texas, 41.27
- LaTricia Duke, Zephyr, Texas, 41.86
- Kassie Mowry, Dublin, Texas, 45.43
- Emily Beisel, Weatherford, Okla., 46.22
- Carlee Otero, Perrin, Texas, 46.28
- Wenda Johnson, Pawhuska, Okla., 46.31
- Shelley Morgan, Eustace, Texas, 46.44
- Dona Kay Rule, Minco, Okla., 46.91
- Lisa Lockhart, Oelrichs, S.D., 51.32
- Halyn Lide, China Spring, Texas, 52.15
- Leslie Smalygo, Skiatook, Okla., 27.68 on two
2024 WPRA Barrel Racing World Standings (After Round Three)
- Hailey Kinsel/$315,164.08
- Kassie Mowry/$225,530.32
- Leslie Smalygo/$214,057.12
- Ashley Castleberry/$203,055.25
- Tiany Schuster/$179,714.06
- Andrea Busby/$165,761.38
- Emily Beisel/$164,004.96
- Abby Phillips/$151,036.94
- Lisa Lockhart/$150,887.64
- Carlee Otero/$149,512.88
- LaTricia Duke/$147,823.91
- Hayln Lide/$131,965.70
- Dona Kay Rule/$131,480.98
- Wenda Johnson/$127,969.63
- Shelley Morgan/$123,906.01
