The world’s richest Futurity and Super Derby was held for the 48th consecutive year in Fort Smith, Arkansas, May 12-17, paying out more than $332,900.
In 1999, 23-year-old Jamey Hunt made history as the 22nd Old Fort Days Futurity Champion aboard 1995 sorrel mare Marthas Smoothover (Marthas Six Moons x Baileys Smooth Pac x Pacific Bailey) owned by the incomparable barrel horse trainer Michael Boone. The dynamic duo ran the last of the Futurity finalists, crossing the timer’s line in 16.486 seconds to win $105,500 in just one run — marking the most money earned by a barrel racer at a single event up to that point.
That same year, Shari Stanley of Granbury, Texas, and her very own 1993 sorrel mare Christians Cupid (Christian Soldier x Carlas Valentine x Little Casady) turned in a time of 16.461 in the finals to claim $39,000 for her Old Fort Days Super Derby Championship.
In 2021, Jodee Miller made history at the Old Fort Days Futurity and Super Derby, becoming the first female rider to win the Fort Smith Futurity and Derby in the same year, and the second rider ever to do so — Cody Bauserman won both in 2007. Jodee was also the first owner/breeder/rider combination to sweep Fort Smith, doing so aboard two horses bred and raised by her family’s M R Performance Horses (operated by Jodee and her sister Jayme Robison) and both sired by their late stallion French Streaktovegas. Jodee’s futurity winner, M R Smashed N Vegas, is out of Jamaka Smash by Big Smash, and derby winner M R Repete Pete out of Danyelle Campbell’s National Finals Rodeo mare Repete Fame by Dash Ta Fame.
In 2022, Kristin Hanchey broke the Fort Smith arena record with a 16.148 to win the 2022 Old Fort Days Super Derby time trials on 2017 mare Smooth Way Ta Heaven (Blings Smooth Guy x Cash Ta Heaven x JL Dash Ta Heaven), owned by Tracey Williams.
The Old Fort Days is one of the oldest futurities and derbies behind the Indiana Barrel Futurity, which first began in 1975 and is closing in on its 50th anniversary in 2025.
Although Old Fort Days has evolved throughout the years, including adding an Old Fort Days Senior Futurity in 2023 for 5-year-old futurity horses, the fast times have remained the same, crowning a new Futurity and Super Derby Champion in 2025.
Brandon’s Back: Brandon Cullins and Thunderstruck Lane Dominate Futurity
After being named The American Rodeo barrel racing champion in 2024 and taking home $1 million, Brandon is back and winning on a The Goodbye Lane mare, but this time, it’s not American Rodeo champion MJ Segers Fast Lane.
“The Goodbye Lanes have been good to me,” Cullins explained as he praised the talented 4-year-old sorrel mare Thunderstruck Lane (The Goodbye Lane x Shawnee Fame x Dash Ta Fame) owned by Brad Lieblong of Ridgeview Farms that helped claim him the title of Old Fort Days Futurity Champions.
The talented pair turned in the fastest time of the week in the Futurity finals, with a 16.402, barely edging out Ashley Schafer and HP Hotrod (Dash Ta Fame x Rods Last Ladybug x Sharp Rodney) owned by Highpoint Performance Horses, who boasted an impressive 16.425 finish in the finals, making them the Old Fort Days Futurity Reserve Champions.
Rolling over to the 5-year-old Senior Futurity, Cullins and “Pockets” collected a check for more than $49,000 for their first-place finishes in both futurities.
Bred by Rayel and Grant Little, Pockets was set up for success from the beginning. Upon entering Cullins’ 10-62 Barrel Horse program, Cullins bragged about the talented young mare and explained that she hadn’t had a chance to shine in her futurity year thus far.
“She was really easy to train. She’s very willing. She’s placed nearly everywhere we have taken her, but she’s had several little setbacks this year that I felt kept her from winning first place,” Cullins said. “I knew the capability was there; I was just waiting for her to show everyone else, too.”
The gritty mare battled an abscess for the few weeks leading up to the big win, where she spent most of her time at Acupscope By Ashley, in which Cullins’ time on her back was limited leading up to the event.
After a businessman pass through the barrels in the time trials with a 16.884, finishing eighth, Cullins explained he didn’t have a lot of expectations going into the finals.
“I really just wanted to stay out of her way, hit my points, and let her work. The first barrel is tricky at Fort Smith, so I just wanted to make sure I set her up well for it and got a good start and let the rest take care of itself,” Cullins said.
No stranger to pressure in the finals at the Old Fort Days, Cullins has been named a Super Derby Champion first in 2016 on VQ Sucker Punch and again in 2018 on A Cornerstone.
“I’ve always wanted to win this futurity; I think everyone does. It’s my favorite futurity of the year,” Cullins boasted with gratitude.
Cullins thanked Dr. Reese Hand, DVM, of Equine Sports Medicine and Surgery, and his assistant Alicia Myers for their vital role in getting Pockets feeling her best before the futurity despite an abscess. He also thanks Acuscope By Ashley for her hard work in Pocket’s success at Fort Smith.
No Pressure: Blaise Wheeler and SBW Feelinthepressure Win Super Derby
Blaise Wheeler of Summit, Mississippi, and her 2019 sorrel gelding SBWFeelinthepressure (No Pressure On Me x Feelin The Firewater x JL Dash Ta Heaven) have been a force to be reckoned with since Blaise took over the reins from husband, Brian Wheeler, after “Gauge’s” futurity year.
After one of Blaise’s horses had to be sidelined at Christmas In Dixie in Jackson, Mississippi, on December 15, 2023, Brian offered Gauge to Blaise to jump ride as Blaise had qualified for the Big Reward Barrel Race Finals.
It was Blaise’s first time to step foot on Gauge, and it was an immediate fit when Blaise ran a blazing 13.919 in Jackson to win the round out of 383 horses. The fast young gelding had already had a decorated futurity year under the guidance of futurity horse trainer Brian, on whom he captured the 2022 Barrel Futurities of America Juvenile Reserve Championship.
The rest is history, and Blaise and Gauge hit the road to the derbies, winning nearly everywhere they went. They also added the titles of the Triple Crown 100 Slot Race Champion and Legends Of The South Slot Race Champion to their resumes.
Blaise and Gauge finished fourth in the Old Fort Days Super Derby time trials, turning in a respectable time of 16.754 to advance them to the finals.
“Gauge typically gets faster with each run anywhere I take him. It seems the more he can get in the arena, the more confident he is and the harder he runs,” Blaise said.
A fist bump after Blaise’s lethal 16.432 run in the finals at the Old Fort Days Super Derby secured her title, and pocketing more than $20,000 in earnings signified a win not only for Blaise but for Brian, too.
“It’s a futurity and derby I’ve always wanted to win, and if I don’t win it myself, the next best thing is to see a horse I trained win it,” Brian said.
Blaise exclaimed that Old Fort Days Futurity and Super Derby is a barrel race that they both look forward to each year.
“This is Brian’s favorite futurity of the year. So, it was really special to me to win it on a horse that he trained,” Blaise said with pride for their partnership.
Blaise has plans to run her arsenal of winning horses at the Virginia Barrel Classic May 28-June 1 in Lexington, Virginia, as of press time.
“I am pretty sure this win pushed Gauges over the $400,000 mark in earnings, which is a dream come true. He is a once-in-a-lifetime horse to me,” Blaise said. “I know horses like him don’t come around often, so I try to be smart and make my runs count and only enter at big barrel races or slot races.”
Blaise thanked Dr. Reese Hand, DVM, of Equine Sports Medicine and Surgery, and his assistant Alicia Myers for everything they do to keep her and Brian’s team of winning barrel horses going down the road successfully. She also thanks her sponsors, Masters Saddles and Ranchy Threads.
This article was originally published in the July 2025 issue of Barrel Horse News.
