Four riders hit the jackpot during the 2nd Annual Top Shelf Breeders Barrel Race.
With a $300,000 minimum payout, the 2nd annual Top Shelf Breeders Race from October 26–28 at the Rafter 3C Arena in Fallon, Nevada, guaranteed big checks and great prizes to the top riders at this year’s event.
Fastest Feet in the West
Although Gracie Beckstrom only started running MJ Swift Lane earlier this year, the pair looked like longtime teammates at the Top Shelf during Thursday’s Sweepstakes round. They ran the fastest time of the weekend — a 15.301 — to win the round and a check for $5,544.
“I wasn’t expecting her to go out and win it, especially by how much she won it,” Gracie said. “I knew she was fast enough to place in it; I just needed to be clean on her. That was my thought the whole time. For her to win it was really special and exciting.”
Gracie, 20, said from the beginning to the end, the run was one of the best ones the mare has made so far. Because “Juanita” can get running full speed in only two strides, she normally walks her up to almost the timer line. During their run, the mare walked out perfectly, and from there, she grabbed the first barrel beautifully.
Gracie knew if they could get past the next two, they’d clock a good time.
“She did, and then coming home, she picked up speed she had never picked up before,” the Spanish Fork, Utah, resident said. “It was like she kicked into another gear, so that was really fun. It was almost like a blur. Everything worked out perfectly.”
Juanita has been a part of Gracie’s family from the get-go. Gracie’s grandparents, Mark and Linda Jarvis, bred and raised the mare, and her aunt, Marcie Wilson, futuritied her. This year, Gracie jumped on her and started taking her to jackpots and pro rodeos to test the waters and see how Juanita handled the environment.
Though the mare is only 6 years old, she caught on quickly, and Gracie attributed her success to the mare’s good mind.
“From the moment you get there to being in your backyard, wherever, she’s the best-minded horse,” Gracie said. “She’ll do anything you ask her. She’s so forgiving and gives it her all every run. She’s also very snappy and fast-footed, and I love that about her. She can get from point A to point B so quickly, and it feels so smooth and easy for her.”
Gracie plans to run the mare at the Patriot in December, then she’ll have a break over winter. She looks forward to jockeying the mare again in the spring.
Slingshot to the Top
Gracie wasn’t the only Beckstrom to nab a title at the Top Shelf event. Her sister, 18-year-old Morgan Beckstrom, found her own success when she rode Slingshot Lane to a combined 31.240 to win the Open 1D average and $1,443.
“I was nervous,” Morgan said. “I was off her for a while, and [since getting back on her], she’d only had two runs at the high school rodeos. We placed, but we didn’t place at the top where we usually do. My grandpa told me to just make my same run, and she made an amazing run. She came back better than ever.”
The duo first clocked a 15.632, winning Friday night’s Open 1D and picking up $1,478. The next day, since she had a good head start on the average, Morgan decided to just shoot for making a clean run.
“My sister told me, ‘You just have to run a [15.6] or lower, and you’ll win the average,’” Morgan recalled. “I ended up running a [15.608], and I was really happy about it. We waited there all day to watch because I was up at the first, but I was really happy when I learned I had won it.”
The pair picked up another $1,091, and they also collected $1,176 for placing fifth in the 1D of the Sweepstakes.
Morgan said the fact Slingshot Lane could come back after only a couple high school rodeo runs to win the Open at the Top Shelf was a testament to how talented she is.
“She’s so athletic,” Morgan said. “Whenever I need her the most, that’s when she has her best runs. I’m really happy I get to run her and happy with how fast she bounced back to being her old self and being better than ever.”
The team is currently sitting second in the state of the high school rodeo standings. They won five of the Utah High School Rodeo Association’s “Dixie Six” events and placed second in the sixth, proving they’re well on their way to making a great comeback together.
“I want to mention my family for helping me get there,” Morgan said. “I also want to thank my vet, Dr. Beau Beck, DVM, with South Valley Equine. He is really amazing. He always takes ‘Slingshot’ as one of his own horses and keeps her 100%.”
Firing On All Cylinders
A month after winning the West Coast Barrel Racing Association Finals Open 1D average in September, Ann McGilchrist and Fling Ta California headed northeast to the Top Shelf Breeders Race, where their combined score of 31.365 topped the Derby average. The pair collected $1,919, plus another $3,554 from the derby go-rounds. They additionally won the American Contender round and were second in the Open 1D average, where they picked up another check worth $1,237.
“My horse has been really getting more confident and firing hard,” McGilchrist said. “He’s a turning son of a gun that can run, too, and he likes it. I think those are the three most important qualities in a barrel racing horse — they’ve got to turn, they’ve got to run and to be great, they’ve got to really enjoy it. So far, those three things have been coming together for him.”
The pair wasn’t able to get into the arena prior to the first go due to snow and ice on their route, which slowed them down. Fling Ta California was a little look-y at first, but he still made a pretty run, clocking the second-fastest time of 15.831. By their second go, the gelding was feeling more assured, and his time of 15.534 won the round.
“He just really fired,” McGilchrist said. “He got confident being in that arena and tried that much harder.”
Fling Ta California is a product of McGilchrist and her mom, Valerie Scott’s, breeding program. McGilchrist has ridden several members of his family, including his dam and her full brother, who came close to making the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo with McGilchrist in 2014. McGilchrist said it’s been fun raising Fling Ta California from a baby and watching him come along the last few years.
The Los Angeles, California-based horsewoman, who is also a professional stuntwoman and an insurance field agent, thanked her husband, Brad, who shoes her horses; her parents, including her dad, Walter; and her daughter, 7-year-old Abbey, who videos every run for her. She also thanked her sponsors Master Saddles and Justin Equine Insurance.
Rising to the Occasion
Ever since Anita Ellis got A Dash Of Flingnfame into her program as a 2-year-old, she knew the mare had potential. As the mare’s futurity season progressed this year, though, something, whether it was an illness or an injury, always seemed to hold her back. Everything finally came together at the Top Shelf event when the pair ran a combined time of 31.644 to win the 1D in the Futurity and $1,424.
“For her to win the last futurity I was going to this year, that felt pretty amazing,” Ellis said. “I could feel the talent she has, and I knew it was there. Not only did she win the futurity, but she got the third-fastest run of the weekend, so I was really excited about that.”
Ellis and the mare were only able to get one exhibition in at the start of the event, so Ellis was a little nervous about the first go due to how the arena was laid out. The eye beam for the timer and the first barrel came up immediately after running out of the wings, and Ellis was afraid “Jessie” was going to be lost.
“She was [lost] a little; she didn’t really step off at all, but it not as tight as she normally turns,” Ellis said. “She was a bit hesitant going to the second barrel. I don’t know if she thought it was right by the eye. But she ended up running a [16.080], and I knew she was going to come back better the next day.”
The pair placed second in the first go, collecting $1,187. Ellis’ intuition that the mare would be more confident in the second round proved correct when they ran a time of 15.564, winning the go and another $1,899.
“Her first barrel was so tight, and she didn’t hesitate at all running to the second,” Ellis said. “She felt like she was flying. She did so good.”
Ellis, of Blackfoot, Idaho, thanked everybody involved with running with the Top Shelf event for being nice and helpful. She also appreciated the ground crew for keeping the dirt consistent for every exhibitor. She planned to ride Jessie in some derbies next year and hoped to make a rodeo horse out of her.
This article was originally published in the January 2024 issue of Barrel Horse News.
