The fourth annual Good Times Barrel Racing Association’s Equinety Perry Cup paid out more than $155,000 with races and side pots for all, even the canine companions.
Since June of 2019, Stacey Warner and André Dohrn of the Good Times Barrel Racing Association have focused on producing high-quality events at great facilities with affordable fees. Held March 21-23 at the Georgia National Fairgrounds in Perry, Georgia, this year’s Equinety Perry Cup was no exception. The 2024 event featured a slightly different format as GTBRA strives to keep pace with current industry trends. The Big Bucks Open Slot Race Shootout was a 3D instead of 2D, with a lowered entry fee. Friday and Saturday also each featured a High Roller 3D Race, in addition to the Open 4D.
“One thing we did do different this year is running the futurity and derby as a class, where it was always a side pot before,” shared Warner. “It gained entries doing that, because they were showcased and highlighted. The High Rollers, too, was always a side pot and now it runs first. We got that idea from Mikey Callahan [of Aloha Acres], and it has really taken off for us. A lot of people will get in it if they have something else they need to go do, or don’t want to stay and run late in the open. Most people can afford the High Roller fee as opposed to the slot race fee.”
Warner credits her partner, staff, and event software Saddlebook with making the show a smooth-running success.
“Our tractor drivers Brett Monroe and Eddie Almond, they’re the most valuable tool,” she said. “They keep it fair no matter where you draw, and have such knowledge of the dirt; how much water to put on it and how deep to rip it.”
She also thanks title sponsor Equinety and representative John Dowdy, who also sponsored the Equinety K10 Super Fly Dog Race.
“The most fun thing we do is the dog race,” Warner said. “It’s not staged at all; we do the ‘Little Scrappers’ and ‘Big Bruisers’ in match races or groups of three. There’s never a straight line, and one may decide to just tour the arena. We had a basset hound, corgi, and a French bulldog in one group and they all just laid down and rolled over; we never could get them to run. It is just hilarious.”
“Hook” took top honors in the Big Bruisers division, while “Whiskey” was the Little Scrappers winner. The victorious pups each took home a trophy, $50, and a K10 amino acid supplement.
Big Bucks Open Slot Race Shootout Champions Merrill Hodges and She Wood Smoke You
Merrill Hodges and her gritty mare She Wood Smoke You are no strangers to the winner’s circle, and that’s right where they landed after turning in a 14.778 to win the Big Bucks Open Slot Race Shootout. The run was worth $8,834 total — $4,500 for the slot race, $2,570 for first in Saturday’s High Roller race, $1,158 for second in the Open race, and $606 for first in the GTBRA members side pot. Hodges and “Smooch” kicked off their weekend on Friday with a 14.977 and earnings of $808.
“I contemplated whether to take her all week because she’d had some maintenance done two weeks before, and she had to have a full 10 days off,” Hodges explained. “Her 10th day was Thursday, and I called the vet to double check, but he said she would be fine. I rode her Thursday and just kind of jogged her around, and on Friday I made a business pass, just letting her feel herself. I knew the big money was up for grabs Saturday.”
Bred, raised and trained by Hodges herself, the tight-knit pair was ready to shine when it came time for the slot race. Smooch is out of Hodges’ mare Smoke More Money aka “Silly,” with whom Hodges developed her love of barrel racing. Together Hodges and Silly learned the ropes and grew as competitors, though Hodges quips isn’t usually advisable. Silly earned more than $55,860 in lifetime earnings as a barrel horse according to EquiStat.
“I own [Smooch’s] mama as well, and was super successful with her,” Hodges shared. “I didn’t grow up in a family with horses, but we went to a rodeo when I was 3 years old and when they ran barrels, I said ‘Me wanna do that!’ I was daddy’s little girl, and we bought a trail horse that I started competing on when I was 6. We bought Silly when I was 8 and she was a 3-year-old. We didn’t know that you don’t put someone inexperienced on a colt. She didn’t really know what she was doing and neither did I, but we slowly worked up the ranks. We went from no D to the 4D, and when she turned 5 she started winning.”
The pair won the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association Junior World title in 2015, but not long after, the mare suffered an injury that ended her performance career. She has not disappointed in her second career as a broodmare, however.
“Silly is not bred anything incredible, but my dad forked out the money for the stud fee and embryo transfer, then we waited to see how it would turn out,” Hodges said. “She is pretty special, but Smooch is right there with her honestly. I watched her be born, and was her best friend growing up. I sent her off to be broke, but after that I did everything with her and trained her. When she turned 3 and I was out there training her, I thought, ‘This thing’s got some talent.’”
When the dust had settled Friday night, Hodges confided to her husband, Austin, that she wanted to make a bit change with Smooch.
“I had been contemplating changing her bit just to be a little faster here or there, but then she always seems to show up, so why change it if it’s working? But on Friday she kind of pulled her head down a little bit and I thought man, I just want to change it. The last run her mama made, I hung her bit (a smooth mouthpiece Carol Goosetree Simplicity) up on the very first bridle rack in the trailer, and haven’t used it since. This one rack just has one bit on it, all the others have a million. The morning of the slot race I was just kind of glancing through and thought, ‘Yup, I’m gonna ride this one today.’ So, I slipped it on her and went and made my run, even though Austin thought I was crazy.”
Ultimately, that decision earned the pair $8,834, a risk Hodges says never felt like a risk to her at all, considering the trust she has in her equine partner.
“She got a little excited in the back, but I always try to just keep her relaxed. I know she’s going to run hard when her heart starts beating like that but I always tell her ‘You’re alright, just take a breath.’ But she took it from me at the back of the alleyway and Austin said ‘I saw the look on your face, you looked scared!’ But honestly when I run down the alley on her I never have to think of anything; if I make a move or she makes a move we just react to each other. She’s gonna do it whether you’re there or not. She always hunts the first barrel, and she smoked it. She’s not a barrel hitter, won’t cheat you, but she might get short running across. But she ran all the way up into the second, and I picked my leg up just in case. She ran true to the third barrel, and when she does that you know she’s going to be right there with ‘em.”
The 14.778 on the clock hung on to first place through all of the High Roller and Open runs on Saturday, and ended up being the third-fastest time turned in of the entire event.
“There’s just something between me and her; she knows it and everyone knows it,” Hodges said. “My husband won a good bunch on her while I was pregnant, but she’ll pin her ears at him. We just have that connection; she likes who she likes and is very opinionated. Mares are my favorite — I’ve ridden good geldings, but there’s just something about the mares. They’re grittier and just have that spice. Geldings will do it because they can but Smooch just loves it, she wants it as bad as I do.”
It may be effortless these days to throw down a flawless run, but the opinionated mare has not always been easy.
“She used to be so difficult on the ground, and to ride around,” Hodges shared. “She just held her head high like the lil’ cocky girl at school. Still to this day she’s one speed; she’s going to prance like you’re taking her to the Kentucky Derby when you walk her from her stall to the pasture. But the first day I ever rode her on barrels, I looked at my mom and said ‘I don’t think it’s supposed to be this easy.’ She just went on her straight lines, and was very eager to learn. She was never scared of anything and always meant business. Never one that was inconsistent, she ran barrels from the first day I asked her.”
These days, Smooch doesn’t require much pattern work. Hodges will incorporate a few different drills if they are preparing for a big event, but her main focus is keeping the mare fit.
“Keeping them sound and happy and loving their job is important to me,” she shared. “The first day Smooch acts like she doesn’t want to do it anymore, she’ll be done. She’s God-given for sure; when Silly got hurt I thought the world had ended. But God works in mysterious ways, and everyone says that she’s Silly made over. Their style is very similar, and when they’re turned out together people can’t tell them apart.”
Hodges is thankful to her husband and grateful for the loving, friendly competition that they’ve developed with each other. The duo now trains horses together full time, with the all-important assistance of their 11-month-old daughter Harper.
“I’ve gotten really good at saddling and unsaddling with a baby on my hip,” Hodges said with a laugh. “Thankfully we train very similar so we can jump on things and make it work. Usually being married and doing the same thing isn’t the easiest, but it’s worked out for us.”
This article was originally published in the June 2024 issue of Barrel Horse News.
